Prof Peter Donkor, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), on Thursday expressed worry at the rate at which nurse anaesthetists are getting addicted to drugs.
He said it was alarming that most nurse anaesthetists are continually getting addicted to drugs, which is not only bad for their health but
posed great danger to their patients whiles disturbing the work of the surgeons they work with at the hospital theater.
The situation has arisen partly due to their free access to anaesthesia drugs some of which can cause serious addiction.
Professor Donkor was speaking at the opening of the 11th annual update in anaesthesia conference in Kumasi on Thursday.
The conference, which is organized annually by the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in collaboration with the University of Utah in the US, aims at refreshing and updating the knowledge and skills of anaesthesia.
Professor Donkor, himself a Surgeon and Anaesthetist, said the Nurses and Dental Council had initiated a programme to regulate anaesthesia practice.
He said drug addiction would be one of the issues which would be critically looked into before accreditation is conferred on practitioners.
He said anaesthesia is the “oxygen for the surgeon” and this puts a huge responsibility on practitioners to ensure that their skills and
knowledge are updated regularly to enable them provide efficient service to their patients.
Dr Gabriel Boakye, Head of Directorate of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at KATH, said feedback on the performance of participants in
previous conferences have been very encouraging and appealed to health managers to continuously sponsor their anaesthesia practitioners to
attend future conferences to improve their knowledge and skills.
Professor Gladys Amponsah, Head of Anaesthesia at the University of Cape Coast Medical School, advised the participants not to lose focus but use the knowledge and skills they will acquire to provide better services to their patients.