Quality Assurance Practices among Health Training Institutions: The Case of Holy Family Nursing and Midwifery Training College, Ghana

Background: Quality assurance of higher education has become a critical issue on the global higher education landscape, especially in the wake of the need for relevance, accountability and value for money. The commoditization, privatization, massification and new modes of higher education delivery, as well as trans-national education are believed to have triggered concerns about the quality of higher education globally. This study examined Quality Assurance (QA) practices in the holy family nursing and midwifery training college in the Bono Region, Ghana.

Methods: We employed a qualitative approach, using descriptive exploratory design. Recruitment of participants was done at the holy family nursing training college using purposive and snowball sampling. Twelve participants between the ages of 21 and 60 years were interviewed using a semi structured interview guide. The data gathered was analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results: The study revealed that the current internal quality assurance practices of the nursing training college concentrated on students admissions, teaching and learning, examination moderation and students’ assessments. Inadequate resources, human resource issues, and leadership interference were some of the factors that compromise quality assurance practices in the health training institution.

Conclusions: It is important for the school to broaden the coverage of its current internal quality assurance practices to include post assessment moderation, student evaluation of courses and learning facilities.