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Pressure is rising amongst members of the Nationwide Affiliation of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, who’re threatening a showdown with the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria over the brand new tips for verification of certificates.
Nurses and midwives within the nation had earlier within the week lamented the deactivation of the NMCN verification portal since December 2023.
The nurses, who spoke with our correspondent in separate interviews, alleged that the deactivation of the portal by the council was an try to hinder their freedom to pursue profession alternatives overseas.
Additionally they mentioned it was not unconnected to the plan of the Federal Authorities to scale back the variety of well being employees travelling in another country to hunt greener pastures.
The NMCN is the one authorized, administrative, company, and statutory physique charged with performing particular features on behalf of the Federal Authorities to make sure the supply of secure and efficient nursing and midwifery care to the general public via high quality schooling and greatest practices.
The council is remitted by regulation to manage the requirements of nursing and midwifery schooling and follow in Nigeria and to assessment such requirements occasionally to fulfill the altering well being wants of society.
In 2023, the NANNM mentioned over 75,000 nurses and midwives left the nation in 5 years to hunt greener pastures.
It decried the insecurity within the nation, notably the rising circumstances of kidnap of its members for ransom, and violence in opposition to its members at their office whereas discharging their duties.
The President of the affiliation, Michael Nnachi, had mentioned, “Because of poor wages and lack of respectable work environments, over 75,000 nurses and midwives have emigrated from Nigeria inside 5 years.
“Scarcity of nurses and midwives, particularly in sure areas of specialisation and geographic areas, the elevated charges of attrition and a persistent scarcity of nursing personnel within the nation elevated workloads on nurses with out an equal compensation, exposing them to extra well being hazards and compromising the standard of healthcare supply.”
The mass exodus of nurses has worsened an ongoing scarcity of well being employees, and poses important threats to the healthcare supply system, resulting in restricted entry to look after many individuals.
Nnachi acknowledged that the continuing mind drain was affecting the workforce within the well being sector.
He mentioned, “It’s overstretching nurses who are usually not even well-paid or well-compensated. It’s overstretching the workforce. Take a look at the way in which the nation is, there may be insecurity. Costs of commodities have gone up available in the market, and you might be incomes a wage that has remained stagnant all this whereas. So, how will you cope economically?”
The NMCN issued a memo dated February 7, 2024, revising the rules for requesting verification of certificates for nurses and midwives.
The NMCN mentioned eligible candidates will need to have a minimal of two years post-qualification expertise from the date of issuance of the everlasting working towards licence.
The memo was addressed to all state ministries of Well being, college educating hospitals, specialist and federal medical centres, NANNM headquarters, universities providing nursing programmes, schools of nursing sciences, faculties of nursing and midwifery, all post-basic nursing programmes, and all nursing and midwifery councils’ zonal workplaces.
The memo signed by the Registrar of the council, Dr Faruk Abubakar, learn partially, “A refundable price per software shall be paid for verification to overseas boards of nursing as specified on the portal. This shall cowl the price of courier providers to the applicant’s establishment(s) of coaching, administrative center, and overseas board.
“Eligible candidates will need to have a minimal of two years publish qualification expertise from the date of issuance of the everlasting working towards licence. Any software with a provisional licence shall be rejected outright.
“The council shall request a letter of fine standing from the chief govt officer of the applicant’s place(s) of labor and the final nursing coaching establishment attended and responses on these shall be addressed on to the Registrar/CEO, NMCN. Please observe that the council shall not settle for such letter(s) via the applicant.”
The council additionally acknowledged that candidates will need to have lively working towards licences with a minimal of six months to the expiration date, and processing of verification functions would take a minimal of six months.
It added that the implementation of the rules takes impact from March 1, 2024.
Nonetheless, the revised tips have sparked reactions from nurses.
In accordance with them, the directive is an infringement on their primary human rights and is embarrassing to the occupation.
A flier sighted by one among our correspondents on social media indicated that nurses in Lagos would stage a protest in opposition to the directive on Monday on the NMCN workplace in Yaba.
A nurse recognized as @Nrs_Danie on X (previously Twitter) posted the flier of a deliberate protest in Abuja.
He wrote, “Pricey Nurses/Nigerians, There’s a peaceable stroll to NMCN arising on the twelfth of February 2024 in Abuja. Kindly donate something you may, financially or in objects listed within the flyer…the account quantity is there. No gree for anyone! #NotoNMCNVerificationrule.
“Me I’ve despatched my very own monetary help, I’ll preserve utilizing on-line platform to boost consciousness and help as a result of that is everybody’s enterprise! Kindly retweet and let it go far, tag anybody or everybody you understand!”
One other nurse utilizing his X deal with @KelvinOssai mentioned, “When the federal government succeeds in utilizing NMCN to tie Nigerian nurses down, they may come for different professions. They won’t make plans to enhance the hospitals or wage of nurses and different well being employees, oh, however they’re involved about your licence!!! Licence that you’ve earned and paid for. #NotoNMCNVerification #NotoNMCNverificationrules #NotoNMCNVerificationrule.”
On his half, the Secretary of the Lagos State chapter of NANNM, Toba Odumosu, mentioned, “We reject that directive outright, however we will probably be assembly quickly on the way in which ahead on the matter.”
The Secretary of the Oyo State chapter of NANNM, Aina Oluwasegun, mentioned, “The state govt members will meet quickly to resolve on the directive.”
Talking solely with one among our correspondents on Friday, Nnachi mentioned the council’s directive was meant to frustrate nurses from searching for greener pastures.
He acknowledged, “The directive could be very embarrassing. It’s an try to frustrate the nurses from searching for greener pastures and self-development. It’s actually embarrassing however we are going to take measures to take a look at it.
“The directive has penalties on working towards nurses, pupil nurses, and even those that aspire to be nurses; that is discouraging, and it’ll discourage them. It’s irritating.”
When requested about addressing the difficulty, he mentioned, “On the management degree, we have to come collectively and talk about. It isn’t a private resolution; we have to take a look at points holistically, after which we are going to make selections on that. It’s one thing that considerations each nurse; it isn’t one thing that a person will resolve on. All of us want to take a look at the directive.”
Nnachi, nevertheless, urged the Federal Authorities to offer a snug working setting and higher pay for nurses to scale back mind drain.
He famous, “If the federal government desires to curb mind drain, they need to do what we’d like and make nurses snug in Nigeria and provides them a particular wage package deal, which will probably be referred to as enhanced nurses’ wage construction, and assessment their salaries {and professional} allowances.
“The reason being that in at the moment’s society and financial situation, everybody will testify that no person is coping properly.”
In the meantime, nurses have arrange totally different WhatsApp teams to mobilise their colleagues to problem the motion of the council. A few of the nurses met in Abuja on Friday and determined to go to a radio station to vent their anger over the council’s directive.
On the radio station, a consultant of the nurses, whose identify was not given for worry of a witch-hunt by the authorities, mentioned, “We received’t comply with the directive. The intention is to maintain us in perpetual slavery, which we received’t comply with.”
It was gathered the nurses had been additionally planning rallies throughout the nation.
In its response, the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa chapter of the NANNM, mentioned in a doc addressed to the nationwide headquarters by its Secretary, Donkori Menizibeya, “Our members have obtained the content material of this round with nice displeasure, describing the round as not solely a call in opposition to the final wellbeing of nurses in Nigeria within the face of paltry remuneration and poor working circumstances but in addition as a deliberate try by the federal government to infringe on the elemental proper of Nigerian nurses.
“The state of affairs for the time being has put the affiliation in a state of disaster, and we foresee higher hazard and chaos if speedy motion isn’t taken.
“The Nigerian authorities is conscious that it lacks authorized grounds to ban Nigerian nurses from migrating amid the nation’s present hardship and poor well being system. Thus, has strategically resorted to utilizing our regulatory our bodies to freeze the potential of Nigerian nurses.
“Our members demand that this anti-nursing round be withdrawn instantly as strategic insurance policies equivalent to this should not be detrimental to the professionals it’s supposed to profit, and hereby name on the nationwide headquarters of our affiliation to rise to the duty and should now swing into motion to make sure that the welfare and rights of Nigerian nurses are protected.
“Nursing leaders want to return to the drawing desk and make mandatory corrections as a matter of utmost significance and urgency, and the onus now falls on the NANNM to be the non-violent driving pressure in correcting this anomaly earlier than us at the moment.”
Equally, the Ebonyi State Council of the affiliation, in a letter to the nationwide physique, mentioned login into the portal and paying a non-refundable price for verification of certificates by candidates was acceptable and commendable, however rejected the two-year expertise after the issuance of everlasting working towards licence earlier than making use of for verification, including that it was extra like enslaving its members in opposition to their want.
Within the letter signed by the state Chairman, Obasi Bornbless, and Secretary, Nwoke Chimezie, the physique mentioned, “Such rule or guideline will probably be extra achievable if the federal government had sponsored the individual(s) schooling and now have an impressive bond or Memorandum of Understanding to substantiate this sort of resolution, and to not be enforced on somebody that solely sponsored his/her schooling on laborious labour or mortgage help.
“Folks get educated for thus many causes, one among which is for greener pastures in a beneficial and conducive setting the place their wants will probably be met.”
It additionally faulted the request for a letter of fine standing from the CEOs of the candidates’ locations of labor, particularly for these working in hospital settings, describing it as derogatory and demeaning to the nursing occupation in Nigeria, including that the letter ought to relatively come from the heads of nursing of the respective establishments.
“The federal government must be extra involved about enhancing the working situation of nurses and different well being employees apart from stopping the japa syndrome with none plan to enhance elements that enormously contributed to it,” the chapter famous.
The Ondo State chapter of the affiliation in rejecting the directive mentioned in a letter by its Chairman, Orobode Felix, that nurses throughout the nation had been going through the twin challenges of being underpaid and having insufficient welfare advantages, including, “As impartial professionals, nurses possess the precise to follow in any a part of the world. Imposing restrictive measures in an try to preserve them inside the nation is each unacceptable and must be vehemently condemned.”
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