The Nurses and Midwives’ Council of Ghana has apprehended a 34-year-old lady for faking a State Registered Nurse (SRN) Certificate to apply for a nursing job at a private hospital in Tema Community 10.

Cecilia Aku Dovi was apprehended and handed over to the Tema Community 11 Police after authorities of the hospital forwarded a copy of the certificate for verification when she applied to work there three weeks ago.

Mr. Felix Nyante, Deputy Registrar in-charge-of Supervision and Regional Coordination of the Council, told the media on Tuesday that his outfit detected that the certificate number 14903 bearing the suspect’s name with an issuance date of August 23, 2005 was falsified.

Mr. Nyante further said that the original certificate which belonged to a male nurse was scanned, and Cecilia’s picture and name as well as the issuance date were superimposed on it.

He added that the SRN course was faded out in 1999 noting therefore that the issuance date on the said certificate was also a fake.

He indicated that further checks on the background of the fake nurse, revealed that Cecilia worked as a ward assistant at the Holy Family Hospital in Nkawkaw in 1999 after which her appointment was confirmed in February 2000.

In 2006, the suspect vacated the post for no reason and was summarily dismissed by the hospital management in July 2006.

Mr. Nyante explained that “the position of a ward assistant is an auxiliary grade while that of a SRN is a professional grade”.

He indicated that the suspect does not have the requisite training in nursing and therefore was a danger to quality health delivery to patient.

To rid health facilities of such impersonators, he stated that his outfit which is the regulatory body of nursing and midwifery in the country periodically embarks on verification of credentials of hospital staffs.

He pleaded with authorities of health facilities to always verify the authenticity of certificates presented to them for employment to safeguard the health of the public.

Cecilia, who said she resides at Kasoa in the Central Region, told the media that she collected the certificate from a friend and scanned it without his permission.

She added that even though she worked as a ward assistant with a Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination Certificate (SSSCE), she fancied the nursing job, which made her to falsify the certificate.**