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The Registrar of the Nurses and Midwives Council, Reverend Veronica Darko, has urged nurses and midwives to be professional in the discharge of their duties, to ensure their continuous stay in the profession. This, she said had become necessary due to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), where patients had pre-financed their health care and therefore expected to have value for their money. Rev. Darko said reports from patients about poor treatment from nurses at health facilities, should be a wake-up call for them to improve upon their performances. She was speaking at a three-day capacity building workshop in Koforidua on Monday, for nurses and midwives from the Regional Hospital in Koforidua. She said in enhancing the image of nurses and midwives to meet the demands of the profession with the onset of the NHIS, the renewal of the nurses and midwives licenses had been changed from three to two years. In addition she disclosed that zonal offices of the council had been opened at some regional capitals, to make the renewal process easy for nurses, who hitherto had to travel from across the country to Accra for the renewal of their licenses. Dr Obeng Apori, the Medical Director of the Koforidua Regional Hospital, said the NHIS was imperative for health workers to be professional. He told the nurses that the old practice where patients had "no say in their treatment" was gone, and nurses and midwives especially needed to build their capacities periodically, to be conversant with emerging trends of nursing and acceptable health delivery practices. Mrs Linda Ayittey, Matron of the Regional Hospital, explained that the workshop was not only for the renewal of their professional licenses, but to build their capacities. She therefore urged them to take the training serious and bridge the short falls in the discharge of their duties, to improve the image of nursing and midwifery as well as that of the Regional Hospital. Dr Appiah Kusi, Deputy Director in charge of training of the Regional Hospital, said the image of nursing and the midwifery profession was declining and if care was not taken, many of them would have occupational challenges. He also shared the view that people were becoming enlightened and therefore would not take any unprofessional performance of health workers for granted, and emphasized the importance of the workshop to build their capacities for the challenges ahead. Dr Kusi said the implication of not renewing professional licenses was very grave.