About Us

Philosophy

Health is the state of complete physical, social spiritual and psychological well-being of the individual and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (WHO. 1947). It is a relative state of the well-being of the individual and many factors contribute to this. These include the socio-cultural and personal values, psychological, economic, physical and biological factors.

Health is a fundamental right of all communities, families, groups of people and individuals, irrespective of their race, sex, religion, creed, beliefs, and values. Ensuring optimum health, therefore, is the raison-d’être all nursing behaviours.

The Ophthalmic Nursing Program also believes that a developing country like Ghana should adopt strategies, which will enable her to identify her needs and use her human and material resources to the maximum benefit of all.

The attainment of health involves the delivery of health care that integrates conservative, promotive, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative health measures at all levels of human endeavours. This can be achieved through active participation of individuals and the community at large.

Ophthalmic Nursing is a dynamic interpersonal process, which seeks to promote, maintain, and restore health. It is a unique enterprise whose practitioners are skilled in assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of eye health. It is essentially a practice-based activity whose body of knowledge is grounded in the Biological, Physical, and Social Sciences and therefore requires continuous learning and research to support theory and practice.

Ophthalmic Nursing is aimed at helping individuals and society in their search for the truth and virtues of eye health, which will eventually reflect on the community.

In order to meet the changing pattern of eye health care demands, Ophthalmic Nursing requires innovation to offer creative responses while working within the ethical and legal framework. We believe that all Ghanaians have a right to quality eye health that is culturally acceptable and accessible to them at a cost they can afford. Thus optimum health, being the end product of the health care delivery system, must be an asset to all.

The special training that the Ophthalmic Nurse receives places him/her in a unique position to adopt the roles of a counsellor, leader, resource person, teacher, researcher, manager, and caregiver in the health delivery system.

We believe that Ophthalmic Nursing care must be holistic. This calls for the training of multipurpose health personnel with the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitude to deliver this holistic service.

The school values eye health promotion and well-being and assisting persons to achieve their optimum level of eye health.

We also recognize and respect the inherent worth of each student and advocate for respectful treatment of all persons.

The School believes that the student is the centre of the educational program and that Ophthalmic nursing education is a dynamic, intellectual, and spiritual process designed to cultivate changes in the student’s behaviours, attitudes, and values.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of the course the student Ophthalmic nurse should be able to:

1. Utilize the nursing process in meeting the ophthalmic nursing needs of the individual, family, and the community.

2. Prevent eye infections at all levels of health care by initiating surveillance programmes and minimizing the use of human resources.

3. Prevent blindness within the community.

4. Plan, establish, organize and manage an eye unit.

5. Diagnose, treat simple eye diseases and perform minor eye surgeries.

6. Mobilize the community for Primary Eye Care activities and rehabilitation of the visually challenged.

7. Screen clients for eye care at all levels of the health care delivery system and refer complicated conditions to the appropriate level.

8. Function collaboratively with other health professionals to provide comprehensive eye care.

9. Teach, guide and supervise the practice of students, auxiliaries and other paramedical staff in an ophthalmic care programme.

10. Conduct research into the practice of ophthalmic nursing with the aim of improving and developing techniques to meet the changing needs and demands of the community.

11. Initiate and implement policies on eye care at all levels of healthcare delivery system.

12. Communicate with the physically challenged (deaf and dumb) using the sign language