A Chief Nursing Officer at the Brong-Ahafo Regional Hospital in Sunyani, Madam Cordelia Yeboaa-Yeboah, says it is a serious offence for nurses and midwives to take and share pictures of patients on social media for public view.
Describing such practice as unfortunate, she noted that is a total breach of the profession code, and warned those engaged in that would be dismissed and lose their licences should they be found culpable.
Madam Yeboaa-Yeboah gave the warning at the matriculation ceremony of the Sunyani Nursing and Midwifery Training College, at which a total of 516 students were admitted.
The fresh students, made up of 403 females and 113 males, will pursue various programmes in Registered General Nursing, Midwifery and Nurse Assistant (clinical).
Madam Yeboaa-Yeboaah, said nursing was a divine call and urged institutional authorities not to tolerate trainees with questionable characters in order not for them to have any opportunity to dent the image of the profession.
She indicated that the confidentiality of any patient ought to be guaranteed because when their personal information were known to the public, it traumatize the victims and worsen their condition as well as lead to public stigmatization, something she said impedes their recovery process.
She entreated health institutional authorities to be strict on the students and not hesitate to discipline the recalcitrant ones to serve as deterrent to others
Principal of the College, David Amalba Ayinne, cautioned the students to adhere to the college constitution and demonstrate a high sense of discipline.
He said the college had successfully obtained full institutional accreditation and also been selected as one of the centres of excellence by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology for the Bachelor of Science (Nursing).
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