Nursing profession is the bridge connecting the health care world

 The catholic Nurses Guild of Nigeria recently held her maiden edition of a three day Scientific workshop at St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, Ikorodu, Lagos.

The international nurses week ran  from 6th to 8th with the theme, ‘The Culture of Safety starts with you’
Speaking on the theme, Major Ngozi Nwanya (Rtd) said that safety culture is a way safety is perceived, valued and prioritised in an organisation and reflects the real commitment to safety at all levels of the organisation.
“Culture of safety is a shared commitment between management and employees to ensure a safe work environment for staff and patients,” Nwanya said.

The major further said the health care organisation should embrace the science of safety, improvement, human factor and complexity to transform their culture of safety into high reliability.

She also acknowledged that health care delivery system is facing challenges of safe environment for ‘clients  and patients’ entrusted in their care as the case maybe.

Urging nurses to remain in the front line of health care and safety delivery by understanding and developing skills needed to improve care processes as a professional responsibility, the major stressed further that

“Nurse should understand  the complex demands of providing harm free care system and dynamics needed to create the condition for improved outcome in organisational system performance through  intra professional development and team work.

“So Nurses as care givers  need to expand their portfolio of skills in order to provide the clinical leadership needed to achieve a safety culture system and be prepared to improve rather than become a victim of a faulty and a error prone system.”

In achieving the front line
‘Nurses’ have to play an essential role in developing the culture of safety which is the organisational changes, human factor, and patients-centered-learning system.
“Culture of safety cannot be achieved without collaboration between the executives and mid-level managers,” she pointed out.

Achieving safety culture may be difficult to sustain, she said, but through team work, executive work rounds and establishing unit-based-safety-teams  will help improve safety rapid response team and structure communication methods.

Speaking on Pro Life and In-vitro fertilisation (IVF), Rev. Fr. Joseph Ogodo said pro life needs to use the media to break through peoples’  ignorance on pro life issues and its effect.
“I have come to share my passion for life, because I am a product of pro-life and know that those who had gone through IVF have gone through serious pain.

He condemned the fact that medical practitioners are not telling patients about risks involved in conceiving outside the womb; human beings are created in the laboratory as sperm and eggs are fertilised to produce children through artificial insemination.

Ogodo noted that the Church is against artificial insemination and most individuals involved are not enlightened as these practitioners quickly introduce IVF as an alternative to patients because of the money involved.

“The disadvantage is more than the  advantage as IVF has only been able to help 0.4 percent of its patients in America at costs ranging from $30,000 to $120,000 to take the baby.

Human dignitary

Rev. Ogodo also stressed that child birth should follow the normal sexual way of procreating a child which  is the conjugal relationship of  sharing between husband and wife.
He urged nurses to take be serious with their profession as care givers as they are meant to treat and help patients recover from their illness. “There is no hospital, no nurse, and no nurse no hospital,” he encouraged.
Chairman of the occasion, pharmacist Chijioke Cajetan Onyia in a key note address described nurses as a front, middle and back end personnel of the culture of safety.”

He urge that nursing is more of a calling than a profession. “Knowledge gained from these workshops should be used to touch and impart into lives of people in our society,” pledging his support to CNGN.

In a welcoming address, the President, Mrs Mary Bola Onwubiko described the occasion as the first of its kind since the resuscitation of the Guild in less than two years ago after a break of about seven years from the national body.
She called on all practicing Catholic Nurses to wake up to their responsibilities as co-workers with mother Mary by working tirelessly to grow the healing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

She made it clear that the workshop is aimed at promoting and teaching the professionals in the healing ministry and adhering to both spiritual and professional values in accordance with the Catholic doctrine of protection of life, alleviation, promotion of health and the responsibilities of Catholic nurses in pro-life related issues.

She noted that some Catholic health practitioners are still very ignorant of the stand of the Church in pro-life and therefore compromise their faith during practice.

“We therefore use this medium to call on members of the Guild to take cognisance of the fact that the Church is against certain health management style and procedures, the Church in its wisdom, help us maintain the culture of safety and holiness.”

She urged all Catholic nurses to keep themselves abreast of all relevant information so as to constantly help our priests, religious and lay faithfuls to achieve utmost health without compromising their faith. “We call on nurses to teach, counsel and comfort our brethren in and outside the church and as we do this, we can truly say that ‘we are nurses unto Christ.”

Dignitaries present at the event include the Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins DD, represented by Dean, Ikorodu Deanery, Very Rev. Fr. Augustine Medaiyedu Ambrose (CMF). Sisters Adviser, Rev. Sister Theresa Afaraeha and Provincial President ‘CNGN’ Lagos province, Mrs Ayo Evbuomwan among others.