PROFILE OF PROFESSOR ERNESTINA DONKOR
Dean
Professor Ernestina Safoa Donkor is the Acting Dean of School of Nursing and Midwifery (SONAM), University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Ho. Prior to this position, she was the Acting Dean of School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra. She is a midwife and a nurse by profession. She is also a Fellow of the West Africa College of Nursing.
Education
She had her secondary school education at Ghanata Secondary School, Dodowa (O’ Level) from 1973 to 1978; and St Mary’s Secondary School, Accra (A’ Level) between 1978 and 1981. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing with Psychology Degree and her professional qualifications in General Nursing, Midwifery and Public Health Nursing all in the then Department of Nursing (now School of Nursing and Midwifery), College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana in the period 1981-1987. She had her Master of Science Degree in Advanced Midwifery from the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom from 1994-1996; and pursued a PhD degree between 2001 and 2006 at King's College, University of London.
Work Experience
She worked as a graduate nurse in the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital from 1988-1994. She was then appointed a lecturer at the then Department of Nursing in 1998 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2007. She later became the Head of Department for Maternal & Child Health between 2006 and 2008. She was appointed a Vice-Dean from 2007 to 2009, and then an Ag Dean from 2009 to 2017. She was promoted to the grade of Associate Professor in 2013. She had 17 years teaching and research experience with a strong background in Midwifery and research in the University of Ghana.
Aside administrative duties, she taught both undergraduate and postgraduate Nursing students. She also supervised students’ research projects, dissertations and theses. She was involved in the development of curricula for BSc in Nursing, BSc in Midwifery; Master of Science in Nursing and Paediatric Nursing; and MPhil in Nursing programmes of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Ghana. In addition, she spearheaded the development of a PhD in Nursing programme which was to be mounted in the School in the near future.
Service / Research Output
Her research interests have been in Midwifery and Women’s Health with a focus on Female Infertility. She has peer-reviewed publications in both international and local journals. Furthermore, she has chapters in books and a book to her credit. She has presented papers at many international Nursing platforms.
Professor Donkor served on several committees and boards of the College of Health Sciences and University of Ghana. She was an external examiner (2007-2008), and a Council member of Narh Bita College, Tema, Ghana, which is affiliated to the University of Ghana. Further, she served as a member of the 12th Governing Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana from 2010 to 2013. Furthermore, she has been an assessor for licensing examinations for the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana from 2017 to date. She has been working with the panel constituted by National Accreditation Board to assess Nursing and Midwifery programmes for accreditation / reaccreditation in Ghana. She was a member of the Governing Council of the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives (2013-2017). She was also a member of the International Advisory Board of African Journal of Nursing and Midwifery (AJNM) in 2013.
Professor Donkor retired from the University of Ghana in the 2016/2017 academic year. She served a one year contract as an associate professor in the Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana.
In the 2018/2019 academic year, she moved to the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho – Ghana (UHAS) where she is currently the Acting Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery.
