Nurses urged to inspire patients to live

The Head of Nursing at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Gifty Aryee, has urged the hospital's nurses to use their roles to inspire patients to embrace life.

She emphasised that providing care often required empathy and that understanding patients was crucial for effective treatment.

“You are remembered by the way you treat people. I recall a patient I cared for 14 years ago who still recognised me because of the compassion I showed,” Ms Aryee said when she launched a week-long mental wellness awareness campaign recently.

Campaign

The campaign aims to highlight the importance of mental health on the theme: “Mental Health Matters: Empowering Lives, Inspiring Hope”.

She further urged the staff of the hospital to develop emotional intelligence by conducting a self-assessment, which would in turn, help them regulate themselves within the hospital environment.

“Have emotional intelligence to control yourself and smile, relate to your subordinates and build a healthy relationship,” she added.

It also gave staff of the hospital the opportunity to share insights and ask personal questions about coping mechanisms for mental health both on a personal level and within the hospital community.

Empathy

In a presentation, a clinical Psychologist, Priscilla Armah, stressed the need for nurses to practice empathy when dealing with patients.

“Maybe the condition the patient is in requires the patient to show pain; so in pain they can utter certain unpalatable words.”

“So if you are a nurse and you understand that a patient is talking out of pain, instead of shouting back, the nurse should rather get close to the patient and explain to the patient that I understand what you are going through and the patient may not even understand the condition so if you explain to the patient the condition, and the coping mechanisms, it will help solve the problem,” she said.

For his part, Scoffray Yeboah, who is a transformational coach, emphasised the critical importance of time management on mental health, adding that a poor relationship with oneself could lead to mental health issues.

He further advocated increased government funding and prioritisation of mental health facilities and programmes.