More than 10,700 unemployed nurses demand postings from government

A group of unemployed nurses who completed training in 2019 on Thursday picketed the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to demand postings from government.

The group represents about 10,720 unemployed Nurse Assistants, Preventives and Nurse Assistant Clinicals, who completed their education in government nursing training schools across the country.

They are asking the Finance Ministry to give the Ministry of Health (MOH) the financial clearance to employ them.

Miss Martha Kay, Spokesperson for the group, told the Ghana News Agency in Accra that they were informed by the MOH that the MOF had asked them to halt the recruitment process.

“Today is exactly one year we accessed the recruitment portal, so far, three regions have been interviewed and the rest of us are waiting for our turn,  it usually takes about two months to be employed after accessing the portal, this has never happened in the history of nursing,” she said.

Miss Kay  said the MOF had not yet addressed them, and that they were not leaving until they were addressed.

“We are here, we will spend the night here, and we will not leave until we hear from the Finance Ministry.”

Members of the group, dressed in nursing uniform  and mufti, tied red bands around their head and wrist, and carried placards with inscriptions such as “Three  years of completing school, one year of accessing the portal, why Mr President?”, “SHS graduates are practicing nursing while trained nurses are still home”, Unemployment ‘p3 dede”, and “We need to pay our debts for fees and accommodations. “

Mr Ebenezer Tenadu, Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the 2019 Registered Nurse Assistant Clinicals and Preventives, said their engagements with the Health and Finance Ministry over the years had yielded no results.

Source: GNA