Temporal Job Avenues Available To Nurses In Ghana After Rotation Whiles Waiting For Government Posting

Basic professional nursing education in Ghana takes either three or four years of intensive classroom and clinical training. However, after successfully going through the training, graduates are required to go through one-year mandatory clinical experience (popularly known as Rotation) in hospitals, clinics, and other health units to fully merge their knowledge with practice. It’s after this exercise that one can fully assume the position of a Registered / Professional Nurse or Midwife.

Conventionally, government, the biggest employer of health professionals in Ghana, absorbs these professionals into its health facilities as permanent workers whereas few of them find themselves in other practice. This what is usually referred to as ‘Posting’ by most professionals.

Though over the years, this practice by the government has been consistent year after year, even with successive governments, one thing stands out clear, there is no consistency with the timing of posting. The decision to post fresh professionals to work always lies with the executive arm of government through the ministry of health.

It could be as short as right after rotation with no fallow period, to as long as several months to even years after rotation. Despite these uncertainties, a large percentage of fresh graduates choose to hibernate in wait of this morning Cock-a-doodle-do! Only few of them jump on the many job opportunities available in the private sector to make use of their skills whiles making some cash to cater for personal needs.

Facility-Based Health Service Providers

Ghana’s private sector health economy is very promising though not as resilient as that of the West. It offers lots of both permanent and fluid employment opportunities that fresh and even existing graduate can take up to make some gains. One of the key industries within the sector is the facility-based health service providers i.e. hospitals, clinics and health centers. Arguably, it can be said to be heavily dependent on fresh graduate with an appreciable percentage having the financial muscle to recruit professionals permanently, with even better salaries and conditions of service than that of the government.

However, new professionals who live outside urban centers may not be able to fully benefit from the employment opportunities available in the private health facilities because most of these facilities are populated in the urban areas. The high cost of rent in the urban centers may also discourage them from temporary relocating to make use of this opportunity.

This is not so in the home care industry. Though it is also heavily populated in the urban centers, it does not require that one relocate to these areas before taking an employment in the industry.

Home Care

The home care industry is novel in our part of the world but thriving very well. There are lots of agencies in the urban centers that provide these services. The industry has a very flexible shift structure that affords caregivers/nurses the opportunity to work for longer number of days (about a week or a month) whiles staying in client’s house and rest (be off duty) for also for longer number of days but this time around, in their own homes. This provides the opportunity for nurses who do not live in urban centers to make use of these job avenues available in the industry, whiles waiting for government recruitment.

Others

Sales of medical equipment, providing assistance in nursing and nursing assistants training institutions and providing health support to schools, churches and corporate institutions are areas fresh graduate can look out for temporal and at times permanent employment.