Implementing the Bamako Initiative at community level

The Bamako Initiative was launched in 1987 by UNICEF and in 1989 the Ministry of Health; Ghana in conjunction with UNICEF decided to implement the initiative as the essential drug component of the government's Programme of Action to Mitigate the Social Cost of Adjustment (PAMSCAD)

Should the nurse be blamed?: A study of factors contributing to poor quality of nursing care in government health institutions in the central region of Ghana

The objectives of the study were: (1) to determine the relationship between nurses' level of basic training and its influence on their performance; (2) determine factors in nurses' work environment that negatively affect their performance; (3) determine factors in the service conditions of the nurses that influence their performance; (4) assess the level of interpersonal relationship among nurses that influence their performance; (5) assess the level of nurse-client interaction in relation to nurses' performance. Study was carried out by focus group discussion for various grades of nurses and in-depth interviews for individual supervisors. Some of the findings were that professional nurses perform tasks below their level of training; e.g. cleaning wards. Lack of basic facilities like equipment and supplies affect the performance of duty. When other members of the Health Team; for example; doctors; revenue collectors; and orderlies are not at post; nurses are forced to do their work at the expense of the nurses' work. There is lack of continuing education and in-service training and there is undue delay in the selection of nurses for the upgrading of their knowledge and skills