Nursing in Ghana is a crucial subject that permeates almost every issue in the society especially the field of hospital care. To a large extent, the frontiers of nursing have expanded since the time of Florence Nightingale. Globally some studies have been done to study nursing icons like her. The values in nursing practice however continue to preoccupy our minds. The need to accentuate the gains made by historical figures in nursing in present times as well as the nature of interactions between practitioners and patients continues to be of paramount concern to many across the globe and Ghana in particular. This study does an analysis of existing literature on Florence Nightingale and the nature of nursing in Ghana from the colonial times. Additionally, it analyzes responses concerning the activities of nurses and their interactions with patients in Kumasi. The varied information has been thematically pieced together to make inferences that are of great interest to nursing practitioners, policy makers, administrators, and educators among others. The findings to the study suggest among other things that the challenges faced by the nursing institution in modern times are similar to those of the earlier period. The study calls for the emulation of the positive ideas of Florence Nightingale to promote the interest of patients, a core objective championed by a revered nurse.

The study aimed to investigate the relationship between organizational environment antecedents and their impact on performance management among local government authorities and to further understand the role of the stakeholder and political support in the performance monitoring and review of local governments. The study used quantitative research design techniques in the data collection phase between May and August 2017 in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The sample included 850 middle level and senior managers of the Local Government Service. Multiple regression was used to analyze the data. The results of the findings indicate that there is a strong relationship between two organizational environment variables: “stakeholder participation”, political support, and performance management providing a variance of 31.8 percent of the changes in the dependent variable. However, the findings further suggest that stakeholder participation was a better predictor of performance management than political support. Additionally, employees’ age, gender, and organizational size were statistically significant in the model fit. This study is one of the first of its kind to link two organizational environment indicators (stakeholder support and political support) and their effect on two performance management dimensions (performance monitoring and evaluation, and performance review). Also, few studies have used the structural contingency theory in explaining the influence of the environment on internal business processes of organizations in the performance management literature.

The Ejisu-Juaben Health Insurance Scheme (EJHIS), a municipal health insurance scheme in the Asante Region, provides insurance cards to subscribers in the municipality to access affordable health care from accredited health facilities. The study was carried out to find out the extent to which health care is accessible and affordable to the people and to determine the sustainability of the scheme. Ten communities in the municipality were purposively selected. These communities cut across the entire municipality; these include both urban and rural settlements. The study adopted the descriptive survey design using the case study approach focusing on accessibility, affordability and sustainability of the health insurance scheme. In all 120 participants were selected for the study which includes managers, health service providers and subscribers comprising opinion leaders, community leaders and community members. Data was collected using semi-structured interview and interview guide. Responses were coded and analyzed. Findings showed that the government and the administrators at Ejisu-Juaben are committed to the implementation of health insurance policy and provide improved health care in the municipality. The study recommends a strong collaboration based on understanding among the scheme management, the health service providers and subscribers in Order to achieve a successful, affordable, accessible and sustainable health care. Scheme managers are urged to make the insurance more attractive, and create enhanced communication channels to promote transparency in their operations.

Several pandemics have been reported throughout history. The Black Death, Spanish flu, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) among many others have received attention by both earlier and recent scholarships due to their impact on humanity. Before the outbreak of COVID-19, scholars had anticipated future outbreaks with the same or greater impact. The coronavirus which spread from Wuhan from December 2019, across nations has already decimated over 2 million lives with the Americans and Europeans scoring higher in mortality rates. Since its outbreak, scholars have reported cases and measured its impact concerning nations and the international economy. From a historical political economy approach, we add to the corpus of information on pandemics by using the theories of globalizations to discuss pandemics and COVID-19 in particular. We have highlighted the economic history of earlier pandemics and related same to the current burden. We discuss how resources have been distributed to address health systems of Africa and Ghana in particular. Also, the current contribution pays attention to critical questions on COVID-19 in Africa. Evidence from the study suggests that African nations shall do better when they combine their efforts and resources to fight the pandemic and others that might erupt in the near future. From the discussions, we draw lessons for stakeholders and policy makers.

This paper examines the marijuana usage among university students in Ghana. A focused interview was done to solicit information from users of the drug. It paid attention to thematic areas that are replete in the existing literature concerning the use of marijuana and its ramifications on student users of the drug. Attention is paid to the factors that drive the students to use the drug and its ramifications on their performance as students. Results and discussions that emanated from this severally qualitative study with some quantitatives should serve as bases for university administrators and lecturers to see the need to enhance their efforts in training peer educators and counseling units in universities in Africa and Ghana in particular.