The Liberian Board of Nursing and Midwifery (LBNM) on Tuesday, June 8, 2021 held a one-day workshop with students, faculty and staff of the Nursing and Physician Assistant departments of the College of Health Sciences at Cuttington University.
The workshop was also attended by the Associate VP for Academic Affairs of the University, Mrs. Barbara W. Kennedy.
The workshop, which lasted for more than two hours, was purposely intended to educate students about the board’s testing and examination processes as well as inform the staff of the dynamics and new approaches derived by the LBNM in evaluating and accrediting institutions offering nursing/midwifery as a distinct academic program across the country.
The program mainly targeted students who are majoring in Nursing and Physician Assistant at Cuttington University from the sophomore to the senior levels, considering their broad knowledge acquired on the subject matter through their fundamental studies at the institution.
During the workshop, the students were briefed on the new electronic developments in the testing, evaluation and examination processes and how they could write the Nursing State Board exam online in the future. The new electronic system is referred to as “Index Processing.” The system was recently developed and will be used to track students, health workers, and institutions of the profession.
Representing the Liberian Board for Nursing and Midwifery (LBNM), were Mr. Geepay Williams, the ITC & Communications Director and Mrs. Jemama W. Toe, a registered Nurse, who also headed the team and facilitated the workshop. During the presentation, Mrs. Toe informed the participants that the accreditation of Nursing and Midwifery schools started since the LBNM was established as far back as 1948; with a strong emphasis of re-enforcing the standard of accreditation.
She said the LBNM collaborated with USAID in 2009 to rebuild basic health services in different regions of Liberia as their assessment tools were also developed and tested during this time and later revised in 2015 with support from RBHs.
Madam Toe additionally noted that the National Guidelines for Accreditation of Nursing and Midwifery programs were created on August 28, 2019 when a team representing the Liberian Board of Nursing and Midwifery met in Freetown, Sierra Leone with other key stakeholders and international partners to discuss ways forward in advancing health services and programs.
Making remarks on behalf of Cuttington University administration, Mrs. Barbara W. Kennedy, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, welcomed and applauded the visiting team for the knowledge provided the students, and for always being a good partner of the Institution. She at the same time hoped that the students will utilize the skills acquired from the workshop.
Meanwhile, the students, staff and faculty of the College of Health Sciences attending the workshop also thanked the team from the Liberian Board of Nursing and Midwifery (LBNM) for the opportunity afforded them to be informed about the trending developments in the health profession.