Political scientist Dr. Richard Amoako Baah has urged nurses to be supportive of the government because it played a key role in their education.
According to him, it is because of government subsidies that they were able to access education.
Therefore, they should not be seen taking an entrenched position on issues but rather be open to negotiations that will be in favour of patients.
To him, nurses should have taken into consideration the crisis the country is currently in before making demands of the government.
Dr Richard Amoako Baah was speaking on Accra-based TV3 when he expressed this position.
“The government takes care of nurses before they become nurses. How did you become a nurse? Isn’t the government’s hand in it? Why are we talking as if we are talking to strangers? The amount of money you paid to go to nursing school is not enough to take care of you, so the government contributed and invested in you, so remember that when you are talking,” he stated.
Adding that “I will support nurses any time of the day. In some places in the US, they value nurses more than doctors because nurses can do all that doctors can do. We know that nurses are very important, but where we are now, we are in an emergency. We have no choice, and so let’s always be reasonable. You deserve what is due you, but if there is no money, what do you deserve? When you see that things are getting better, have hope, and you have to contribute to get it better and not jettison the whole thing.”
Ghana’s nurses declared a nationwide strike on June 2, 2025, to drum home the need for the government to implement their conditions of service.
The strike was called off after the leadership of the nurses and midwives met with Parliament’s select committee on health.
