Mary Augusta Fullah: (MPH, SRN, SCM)
Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer
Matron Mary Fullah is a UK trained Public Health Specialist. She is a registered nurse and a midwife who has worked in various hospitals, across the country, as Nursing Officer and as Matron.
She has worked as District Health Sister in five different districts including Western Area Urban and Rural. She has also worked in various directorates and programmes within the Ministry of Health and Sanitation including working in the Reproductive Health and Family Planning Program where she was until after the Ebola epidemic.
Prior to being the head of Directorate of Nursing and Midwifery Services, she had served as Deputy Chief of the same Directorate from 2016 to 2018.
In addition to the Diploma in Community Medicine and Health, she also holds a degree in Hospital Management from Italy, before being awarded a Master’s degree in Public Health and Health Promotion from Leeds University Medical School.
She has led a number of reforms in the Nursing and Midwifery fields including spearheading the expansion of the Mattru Jong Nursing School which would soon start teaching SRN courses. This is the first time ever Bonthe District has had an institution and accreditation to train registered nurses.
In addition to her academic qualifications, Matron Fullah has gone through several short-term professional training programmes and Seminars in Sri Lanka, Ghana, Nigeria and Gambia, among others
Directorate of Nursing and Midwifery
Update on Thematic Areas
- Policy and Leadership
- Regulation
- Education
- Service Delivery
- Association and Partnership
The Directorate
The Directorate of Nursing and Midwifery Services functions as an overarching Directorate responsible for policy formulation and Strategic Plan development for nursing and midwifery services, facilitate education, regulation and partnership for the furtherance of nursing and midwifery services in order to improve health outcomes. The directorate operates within five thematic areas
Update on Thematic Areas
Policy and Leadership: The Directorate has the mandate to lead policy formulation in the management of nurses and midwives. Under the thematic area, the Directorate has developed the Nursing and Midwifery Policy and Strategy to provide adequate policy framework and strategy for the operations of the directorate as well as the nursing and midwifery cadres. The Directorate has finalised discussions with SIGMA and they have acquiesced to support the establishment and training of a research unit for Nurses within the directorate.
Regulation: The Directorate has worked closely with the Nurses and Midwives Board to develop the Act that awaits the Minister to table it in Parliament. This Act stipulates up-to-date sanctions that befit specific conducts. The directorate also has the mandate to establish appropriate infrastructures for examinations, licences and administration
Education: The Directorate has the mandate to accredit nursing and midwifery schools across the country, and to introduce new courses and expand existing nursing and midwifery institutions, where required. As an achievement, the Directorate has almost finalised the expansion of the Mattru Nursing School to now introduce the State Registered Nursing course—first ever in the district. The Directorate has also collaborated with the university to introduce postgraduate qualifications including Masters and PhDs.
Service Delivery: Given that nurses and midwives form more than half of the health workforce, the directorate is responsible for ensuring there is efficiency and quality in service delivery to help improve health outcomes.
Association and Partnership: Here, the Directorate is required to work closely with the Nurses and Midwives Associations and to ensure discipline is maintained in the professions and that practitioners conduct themselves appropriately. In this regard, a Grievance Redress Mechanism has been introduced in all districts. Matrons have been trained in all districts to serve as focal points. With Partnerships, the Directorate is required to create new partnerships and maintain existing ones to enhance service delivery. Already, some very productive partnerships, including those with UNICEF supporting the establishment and management of the Special Care Baby Units at hospitals, JICA supporting the development of the MCH Handbook, ICAP supporting Skills Labs and leadership trainings, UNFPA supporting the training of midwives, Seed Global Health with the preceptorship trainings, and WHO to support the development and rolling out of the relevant policies, have been maintained.