A public notice circulating on TikTok, claiming that the Nurses and Midwives Council of Uganda has officially adopted the title "Dr" for registered nurses, has been dismissed as fake. The notice claims that all registered nurses in Uganda are now entitled to use the title "Dr" before their names. However, the council has not adopted such a policy, and the circulating notice falsely presents the claim as an official announcement.
The Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council has urged the public to disregard the false information circulating on social media. Ministry of Health spokesperson Allan Ssempebwa has also dismissed the document as fake. In a message to PesaCheck, Ssempebwa said neither the Nurses and Midwives Council nor the Ministry of Health had made such a declaration.
The Nurses and Midwives Act, Cap. 301 (1996), outlines the professional titles and restrictions applicable to nurses and midwives. Section 26 specifies the titles "Registered Nurse" and "Registered Midwife" for registered practitioners. This act provides a legal framework for the nursing and midwifery profession in Uganda.
Section 27 of the act further states that registration or enrolment as a nurse or midwife does not confer the right to assume any title or designation under the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act. This means that registered nurses and midwives are not entitled to use titles reserved for medical doctors.
Section 53 of the act provides penalties for individuals who falsely use protected nursing and midwifery titles or misrepresent their registration status. This provision aims to prevent misuse of professional titles and protect the public from false claims.
PesaCheck, a fact-checking initiative, has verified the information and found the public notice to be fake. This fact-check was written by senior PesaCheck fact-checker Pius Enywaru and edited by PesaCheck senior copy editor Mary Mutisya and chief copy editor Stephen Ndegwa.
PesaCheck is East Africa's first public finance fact-checking initiative, co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government's delivery of Sustainable Development Goals public services.
Key points
- The Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council has not adopted a policy allowing registered nurses to use the title "Dr".
- The Nurses and Midwives Act, Cap. 301 (1996), specifies the titles "Registered Nurse" and "Registered Midwife" for registered practitioners.
- Section 53 of the act provides penalties for individuals who falsely use protected nursing and midwifery titles or misrepresent their registration status.
