…decries migration of Nigerians medical personnel
The Chairman of National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, Ogun State Chapter, Nurse Roseline Solarin has called on government at all levels to pay necessary attention to the health sector’s needs, improve investment in Nurses and review hazard allowances for better service delivery.
Solarin made this call on Thursday at a conference to mark the 2022 Nurses and Midwives Day in Abeokuta, tagged: “Nurses: A Voice To Lead, Invest In Nursing and Respect Right To Secure Global Health”.
The Chairman explained that nurses in Nigeria are underpaid and undervalued despite the risks they face as health care workers.
Her statement reads in parts, “It’s another milestone in the history of NANNM in Ogun State as we commemorate 2022 nurses week”.
“It’s time to come together to appreciate ourselves and also review the activities of NURSING PRACTICE and look for the way forward on how to improve the quality of Health care services with the view of securing the health of the people globally”.
“The theme for this year is timely,’’ NURSES: A VOICE TO LEAD, INVEST IN NURSING AND RESPECT RIGHT TO SECURE GLOBAL HEALTH” Honestly speaking this is the time to invest in Nursing, more importantly when the country is experiencing a lots of challenges ranging from poor economy, insecurity, massive exodus of healthcare workers to developed world just to mention a few”.
“The governments need to invest more in Nursing education and practice, as at june 7,2020 well over 6.9 million people worldwide had been confirmed positive for corona virus disease and more than 401, 000 died”.
“Nurses are experiencing unprecedented challenges to deliver safe and equitable care to all populations in need”, she added.
“Government needs increase fiscal allocation to Nursing schools to prepare the next cadre of frontline nurses, to be able to meet up any health care challenges that may come up again, now or later and enact supportive legislations and regulations, optimizing the nursing workforce requires empowering nurses through immediate amendments to policies that dictate practice and interprofessional partnerships systems”, she concluded.
On his part, the Former Chairman of the Association, Comrade Nurse Adeniji Alani decried the increasing rate of migration of Nigerian medical personnel occasioned by inadequate funding of health sector in the country.
Meanwhile, as part of activities to commemorate the 2022 Nurses week, the association provided free healthcare services to assist the less privileged ones, most especially women, men and aged on surgical evaluation, eye screening and Covid-19 vaccination, among others.