Domestic, workplace challenges, bane of nursing care – Olushola, Chairman NANNM

NIGERIAN nurses are diligent, hardworking and
committed to work, but challenges in the hospital
environment and at the home front  are factors that
contribute to the generally unbecoming and unfriendly
attitude of some nurses in the country.
It is no secret that nurses in Nigeria are overworked,
underpaid and not apppreciated for the value of work
and services they put in. Even though they are always at
the beck and call of the patient, the voice of nurses are
hardly heard even when administrative decisions are
being taken.
Today in the country, an average nurse cares for over
30, patients far exceeding WHO recomended ratio.
Drawing attention to this development, Chairman,
National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives,
Lagos State Council, Mrs. Olatunde Olushola, said it is
not in the nature of any nurse to be hostile  but
circumstances often force them to do so.
Olushola  said there is always a plausible explanation
behind the attitude of every Nigerian nurse.
She spoke during the 2nd edition of the Nurses’ Week
and Scientific Conference organised by the National
Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, NANNM,
Working tools: Her words: “In some institutions, the
working tools of every nurse is incomplete without a
cellphone that has a built-in torch because that is the
level to which some hospitals have pushed their logistics
and infrastructure.
“Now tell me, if I want to take delivery of a baby and
there is no light and I now have to hang my handset as a
torch on my head to attend to the woman that is in
distress, won’t I be tense and stressed up?”
She recalled an instance in which just tissue paper was
made available to nurses to clean up the body of a new
born baby. As for  the home front, she remarked: “You
have to remember that the nurse is  human. If that nurse
is female, she is wife to someone, mother of children
and might have early been subjected to some kind of
maltreatment before she left home.
Olushola, however, said such unfriendly attitude was
tarnishing the nursing profession,and should be
mitigated.
Professional nurse
“But when you are a professional nurse, what is
expected of you is that once you get to the hospital gate,
you bury all those issues even if your husband has
slapped you before you left home that morning, you
have to forget about it b ecause the people you are going
to nurse have no other means of relief and their belief is
that they will be well once they get to the hospital,” she
added.
As professionals, the expectation is that a nurse should
carry out her duties against all  odds, even in the face of
inhibitions that include acute staff shortage, non-
conducive environment, poor facilities and lack of
adequate welfare among others.
In the past, when a level 14 nurse retired, two or three
nurses are employed to replace her and the retired
nurse’s salary is divided among them.
Today, however, we are having a situation whereby 75
nurses retire and the management is planning to employ
23 as their replacement.
Greener pasture: She said nurses go abroad in search of
greener pastures, not neccessarily because of the
money, but because the environment is conducive and
the right policies are in place. “But in a situation whereby
you want the best but you are not providing the enabling
environment, it is very difficult to get the best, but I
believe things will be better one day.
In his contribution, the Chief Executive Officer, Radio
Continental, Mr. Richie Johnson, described the nursing
profession as special.
“It is not a profession you should venture into to make
money, rather, it is one that demands compassion. I
could imagine how much you can achieve when you
don’t bother about who get the credit. It is important to
know that where ever you are the real you is who you are
when you think nobody is watching,” he added.