Dr Elikem Oklu, an obstetrician-gynaecologist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Friday urged student nurses and midwives to prioritise effective communication and vigilant patient monitoring to prevent avoidable maternal and neonatal deaths.
He said delays in recognising complications, initiating treatment and referring patients could have fatal consequences, urging the students to translate their classroom learning and clinical knowledge into prompt and appropriate action.
“When you become professionals, you must translate what you learnt in school and your clinical knowledge into prompt and appropriate action,” he said.
Dr Oklu was speaking at a health conference organised by the Mama Cares by Racheal Foundation for students of the Korle-Bu Nursing and Midwifery Training College in Accra.
The conference brought together health and legal professionals to educate the students on maternal and neonatal mortality, medical negligence, professionalism and ethics in nursing, and midwifery practice.
Dr Oklu said preventable deaths could occur when health professionals failed to respond appropriately to emergencies.
He urged health workers to recognise danger signs, monitor patients closely and escalate concerns promptly rather than wait for their conditions to deteriorate.
He also highlighted the importance of effective referral systems, teamwork and open communication, emphasising that every health professional had a responsibility to protect patients’ lives.
Dr Oklu encouraged health facilities to review maternal deaths not merely to apportion blame but to identify weaknesses in clinical practice and institutional arrangements and use the findings to improve care.
Mrs Racheal Hesse Matey, a midwife and Chief Executive Officer of the Mama Cares by Racheal Foundation, urged the students to demonstrate competence, professionalism and compassion in their practice.
She said the public had high expectations of healthcare professionals and that nurses and midwives must continually improve their knowledge and skills to provide quality care.
She encouraged the students to remain committed to learning and recognise that patients were increasingly informed about their health and the services they received.
Mrs Matey urged the student midwives to remain observant, listen carefully to patients, communicate respectfully and take their concerns seriously.
Drawing on her professional experience, she recounted a case in which a delay in responding to an obstetric complication resulted in the loss of a baby.
The experience underscored the importance of monitoring patients closely, recognising changes in their conditions and seeking assistance promptly when necessary, she said.
Mrs Matey cautioned against distractions and inattentiveness while on duty, noting that seemingly minor observations could help identify complications before they became life-threatening.
She urged the students to uphold respectful maternity care and ensure that every woman was treated with dignity throughout pregnancy, labour and the postnatal period.
Healthcare professionals’ responsibilities, she noted, extended beyond performing clinical procedures to providing attentive, compassionate and timely care.
Mrs Matey urged the students to embrace ethical practice, accountability and teamwork, stressing that their commitment to quality healthcare was critical to protecting mothers and newborns and strengthening public confidence in the health system.
Source: GNA
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