Otaala warns NMC on registration of students
Jun 19, 2007
DR. Emmanuel Otaala, the health state minister, has said the Nurses and Midwives Council (NMC) should register over 2,000 students who graduated in May and November last year.
By Josephine Maseruka
DR. Emmanuel Otaala, the health state minister, has said the Nurses and Midwives Council (NMC) should register over 2,000 students who graduated in May and November last year.
Otaala told The New Vision on Wednesday that officials of the ministries of health and education met the NMC thrice and resolved that the graduates, who were examined by the Ministry of Education, would not be subjected to the council’s examinations.
“If NMC officials act contrary to what was decided in April, we shall have no choice but to communicate to the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health to take disciplinary action since we have no mandate to discipline civil servants,†the minister warned.
“We agreed that the NMC be incorporated in the setting of examinations for nurses and midwives instead of subjecting students to separate examinations,†he added.
The minister’s remarks follow complaints by nursing and midwifery graduates that the the Nurses and Midwives Council had refused to issue them with certificates unless they sit for examinations set by the council.
However, the Government rejected the decision because they were examined by the Ministry of Education.
According to a senior nursing officer at the NMC, the three parties agreed that the graduates must undergo internship before being registered.
The Nurses and Midwives Council argues that if the graduates do not do internship, they risk the patients’ lives.
DR. Emmanuel Otaala, the health state minister, has said the Nurses and Midwives Council (NMC) should register over 2,000 students who graduated in May and November last year.
Otaala told The New Vision on Wednesday that officials of the ministries of health and education met the NMC thrice and resolved that the graduates, who were examined by the Ministry of Education, would not be subjected to the council’s examinations.
“If NMC officials act contrary to what was decided in April, we shall have no choice but to communicate to the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health to take disciplinary action since we have no mandate to discipline civil servants,†the minister warned.
“We agreed that the NMC be incorporated in the setting of examinations for nurses and midwives instead of subjecting students to separate examinations,†he added.
The minister’s remarks follow complaints by nursing and midwifery graduates that the the Nurses and Midwives Council had refused to issue them with certificates unless they sit for examinations set by the council.
However, the Government rejected the decision because they were examined by the Ministry of Education.
According to a senior nursing officer at the NMC, the three parties agreed that the graduates must undergo internship before being registered.
The Nurses and Midwives Council argues that if the graduates do not do internship, they risk the patients’ lives.