Association wants govts to provide conducive working environment for nurses, midwives

The National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) has urged the three tiers of government to provide conducive working environment and enhanced welfare packages for nurses and midwives.

Mr Olurotimi Awojide, the Chairman of the association in Lagos State, made the plea on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Awojide said that governments should also address the issue of dearth of nurses and midwives to ensure adequate healthcare delivery.

He said the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended the ratio of one nurse to four patients, noting that in most hospitals across the country, one nurse was attending to 25 patients.

“The inter-professional conflict has not been helping the situation, as in most cases, nurses are not allowed to practice according to the level of their education.

“Most hospitals do not involve nurses in policy formulation and policy implementation.

“At times, decisions were taken without seeking for the opinion of nurses. Governments should ensure justice in dealings with the issues affecting the healthcare workers,” Awojide said.

He said that nurses have not been enjoying training and retraining, both locally and internationally, to keep them abreast of the development in the management of patients.

“It is a known fact that nurses in all the government hospitals are facing some challenges in discharging their professional duties.

“Some of the challenges are porous security, shortage of manpower, lack of modern equipment, non-availability of consumables, lack of motivation in terms of promotion and other welfare packages.

“There was an instance at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos, not quite long, when some nurses on duty were molested by hoodlums,” Awojide said.

He appealed​to nurses and midwives to continue to update themselves, exhibit positive attitude in the discharge of their duties and comply with the ethics of the profession.

Also, Mrs Oluyemisi Adelaja, the Chairman of NANNM, LUTH Chapter, urged the governments to provide improved welfare packages and health insurance for health workers.

Adelaja said that many health workers in the government-owned health facilities were not enjoying good welfare packages, which she said, had affected their efficiency in discharging their duties.

“Ensuring good welfare packages for nurses and midwives is very important in the health system.

“Lack of conducive environment, consumables, poor welfare packages, irregular power supply and dearth of manpower, among others, were some of the challenges facing nurses and midwives,” she said.

Adelaja urged nurses and midwives as well as other health workers to be more committed, cultivate good interpersonal relationships and improve their skills to provide quality healthcare delivery.