N&MC Ghana Exam study guide
N&MC Ghana Exam · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana (N&MC) licensure examination is the gateway assessment that candidates from accredited nursing and midwifery training institutions must pass before they can be entered on the Council's professional register. The Council describes registration as "a periodic process of updating the register of Nurses and Midwives who have qualified by passing their licensure exams in their respective fields," and it operates under the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act 2013 (Act 857), with a mission to secure "in the public interest, the highest standards of training and practice of nursing and midwifery in Ghana." The examination is delivered as an online, computer-based test; the Council held its first online examination in September 2018 for the Registered Mental Nursing Programme, and it now runs online licensing examinations for the basic programmes. The N&MC Ghana Exam study guide has 5 sections and about 2,034 words.
01Professional Foundations, Ethics and Regulation of Nursing and Midwifery Practice
Professional Foundations is the "thinking" paper: it tests the identity, standards and decision-making framework of the registered practitioner rather than isolated facts. You must be able to define nursing and midwifery using scope-of-practice language, state the requirements for initial registration and annual renewal (PIN, practising licence, continuing professional development), and distinguish the scope of a registered nurse, a registered midwife, a community health nurse and a health assistant.
686 words, about 3 min02Medical-Surgical Nursing and Adult Health
Adult health items reward a systematic ABCDE approach (Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure). Know adult norms: pulse 60–100/min, respirations 12–20/min, BP below 120/80 mmHg, temperature 36.5–37.5 °C, SpO₂ 95% or above, urine output at least 0.5 mL/kg/hour.
320 words, about 2 min03Maternal, Newborn and Reproductive Health / Midwifery
Know the schedule of focused antenatal contacts (WHO recommends eight contacts; Ghana's programme builds on at least four visits with early booking), the routine investigations (haemoglobin, blood group and rhesus, urinalysis, HIV, syphilis, hepatitis B), and the danger signs that demand referral: bleeding, severe headache with blurred vision, convulsions, reduced fetal movement, draining membranes, fever, severe abdominal pain and difficulty breathing. Be fluent in the three stages, the partograph (alert and action lines), the mechanism of labour, and active management of the third stage: a uterotonic (oxytocin 10 IU IM), controlled cord traction and uterine massage.
345 words, about 2 min04Child Health and Family Health Nursing
Child health items follow the IMCI pattern: assess, classify by colour (red = urgent referral, yellow = treat and review, green = home care), then treat and counsel. Master the general danger signs - inability to drink or breastfeed, persistent vomiting, convulsions, lethargy or unconsciousness - which override any other classification.
344 words, about 2 min05Community Health, Public Health and Mental Health Nursing
Public health items test levels of prevention: primary (immunisation, health education, safe water), secondary (screening, early diagnosis, contact tracing) and tertiary (rehabilitation, adherence support). Distinguish incidence (new cases over a period) from prevalence (all existing cases at a point in time).
339 words, about 2 min