NML Issue 11
NMLTT
2021
Protect.
Invest.
Together.
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REMARKS FROM VICE CHAIR NMLTT Dear Nurses and Midwives, It is a pleasure to communicate once again with you in this publication! We thank you for the tremendous work you have done during the past Covid-19 pandemic and enduring through the 2nd wave of Covid-19 that claimed a significant number of us. Because you are, we are! Our prayers and heartfelt condolences to the families of our departed colleagues. I take this opportunity to Welcome the Guest writer for this edition, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Ms. Ketty Lamaro. Allow me to congratulate her on her appointment as permanent secretary to the Ministry of Education and Sports. As nurses and midwives, we look forward to working with you and your team in the education of future health professionals. I wish to congratulate and welcome Ms. Christine Nimwesiga the new Registrar of the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council. As your predecessor, I pledge to support you to take the council to greater heights for the good of the nursing and midwifery fratenity. Much as Covid-19 has had a tremendous negative impact on us, we shall not fail to appreciate the fact that it has tickled and opened our minds as regulators to view nursing and midwifery in a different perspective as well as think outside the box so as to provide guidance to the profession effectively. This positivity has not only been felt by the regulators but has also impacted nurses and midwives. Nurses and midwives have embraced technology and created an online presence more than ever before. Nurses and midwives have strengthened their writing skills and promoted information sharing and discussions through social media platforms and newspapers, bringing a new face to the nursing and midwifery profession in Uganda. However, this revolution has not been devoid of challenges. Fraudsters have had increased access to information, giving them the opportunity to adulterate it to meet their own needs; incorrect information has been shared across media, causing mistrust, negativity, character assassination, and obstruction to correct information flow within debatable picture about the profession. These encounters have been further amplified by the challenges brought by compliance to Covid-19 standard operating procedures and the shortage of staff experienced at the Nurses and Midwives Council. In pursuit to control the spread of Covid-19 but yet offer services, the Council has had to reduce on the number of client encounters at its premises which has slowed not only the registration and licensure processes but also the consultation roles of the Council. This has created avenue for imposters to mingle among unregistered qualified nurses and midwives as well as expose the institution to fake registration processes exposing the public to unsafe nursing and midwifery practices.
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