Nurses critical in health service delivery – Minister

…As NANNM president seek inclusion of nurses in policy formulation

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire has said that Nurses and Midwives are essential group in health care delivery, who have the potential to shape the image of the healthcare profession.

To this end, the minister reaffirmed that the federal Government will continue to support the development of the nursing profession in the country.

Dr. Ehanire spoke during the launch of the “Nursing Now” Nigeria campaign, an initiative of the World Health Organization and the International Council of Nurses, aimed at raising the profile and status of nursing worldwide.

The minister also expressed confidence that with the declaration of 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, it will provide members of the profession in Nigeria and the rest of the world, a better vision of what should reshape the profession in the new age.

He said, ‘’It is my pleasure to address you all on this occasion of the launch of the “Nursing Now” Nigeria campaign, an initiative of the World Health Organization and the International Council of Nurses, aimed at raising the profile and status of nursing worldwide.

‘’I understand that according to the World health Organization, the Campaign will focus on five core areas. Ensuring that nurses and midwives have a more prominent voice in health policymaking; encouraging greater investment in the nursing workforce; recruiting more nurses into leadership positions; conducting research that helps determine where nurses can have the greatest impact; and sharing of best nursing practices.

‘’The theme of this launch “Nurses: From Bedside to Board Room” is fitting because it highlights the link between these core aspects, and emphasizes the need for nurses to be involved in the development of the health system in Nigeria. I call on nurses, midwives and all healthcare professionals, to work together to protect and restore where need be, the health of Nigerians’’.

Dr. Ehanire further revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari led government places priority on the health of citizens reaffirming that the federal government will continue to ensure that quality healthcare delivery remain accessible to all Nigerians.

‘’This Administration initiated the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), a flagship programme to ensure that vulnerable Nigerians get access to quality and affordable service delivery towards the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

‘’I am pleased to say that we have made good progress with the programme, with our commitment now attracting support from donors and development partners.

‘’No nation achieves greatness if the people are not healthy. Together, we can and will continue to make Nigeria ever better’’, the minister added.

Earlier, the Comrade Abdrafiu Adeniji, President, National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), called on policy formulation bodies to ensure that nurses are included in the formulation of policies in the country.

He said that until the laws used in regulating nursing profession in Nigeria are reviewed, effective practice of the profession would continue to pose a big challenge.

He also indentified other challenges affecting the effective practice of the profession to include, insufficient institutions for the training of nurses and midwives, shortage of manpower and insecurity amongst others.

‘’In Nigeria as it is a developing country, we have certain challenges that are militating against the effectiveness and efficiency in nursing. This also is affecting the area of career progression.

‘’There are no adequate institutions for the training of nursing and midwives in Nigeria. As we are talking, just very few universities are offering bachelor degree in nursing sciences and without this; we cannot say that nursing profession has attained its peak.

‘’ in addition, there are many regulations that are outdated. For instance, the current law regulating the nursing profession in Nigeria needs a review.

This has become a big challenge in the effective practice of the profession. You will be surprise to know that going by the current law, if a quack is caught; the penalty for the offence is just N1000 or six months imprisonment. This has not helped to eradicate the issue of quack practices in the country.

‘’Apart from this issue of regulation, many policies are militating against the nursing profession in Nigeria. Services of Nurses and Midwives are required when efficiency or attainment of sustainable development goals are aimed. This is what happens globally. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, midwives are not allowed to do the job they are trained to do.

‘’If you go to most of the teaching hospitals and tertiary institutions in the country, Midwives are not allow to give antenatal care to pregnant women or even normal delivery.

This is also militating against them in Nigeria. Look at Kenya, Zambia and Ethiopia, midwives are scaled up to the level of conducting cesarean section, they are trained and empowered to do a lot of advanced nursing practices. This is making those countries to excel but in Nigeria, it is not so.

‘’Apart from this, we have the shortage of manpower. Nursing and midwifery counsel is producing nurses at a very greater rate but our statistic for 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 showed that almost about two third of these people as been produced travel out of the country for greener pasture.

‘’This is leaving us with a very big shortage, adequate skills and manpower resources. This is what is affecting primary health care today. Go to our primary health care centers, they have been reduced to mere clinics and nobody patronizes them.

Evidence to this is that when you go to any teaching hospital today, they are filled up with people with minor sicknesses that ordinarily would have been handled by the primary health care services.

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‘’Nigerians lost interest in primary health care because nurses are not been put in the right position to actually deliver the services they have.

We have public health nurses in Nigeria, they are not been allowed to practice. This shortage of man power in need and in quantity is creating a great challenge to the attainment of the international standard of nursing care practices’’, Comrade Adeniji said.

Nurses and midwives which make up more than of the health force in Nigeria, are pivotal to national health system strengthening especially at the Primary Health Care Centers (PHC).