The National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwife, Lagos Ministry of Health Unit, has called for improved welfare packages and infrastructure for medical professionals to stop the mass relocation of Nigerian Nurses abroad.
They also urged medical practitioners, especially nurses, to prioritize their health by taking care of themselves due to the demanding nature of the profession.
The nurses spoke at their get-together gathering held in Lagos to mark the end of the year activities.
The initiator of the event, Mrs Sola Aketi who is the Lagos State Director of Nursing Services, Ministry of Health, said the burden of taking care of other people sometimes weighed down on the health of the nurses therefore the gathering was an opportunity for them to wine and dine and ease out stress.
“Nurses.are overwhelmed with burdens of activities and overstretched which is our calling to care. So I felt this is an opportunity for nurses to relax because everything is not about work.
Right now Nigeria is going through challenges but when we come together, the stress will lighten. I want to tell the government that nurses need more attention. Many of them leaving the country are not leaving because they want to leave but the situation has to be better here.
We want more in the area of infrastructure, mobility and accommodation. If these are given to us, we can perform better than we are doing. I want to thank Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for promoting one of us as a permanent secretary,” Mrs Aketi said.
Mrs Sarah Balogun, the Senior Special Assistant to the Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on health urged nurses to take time out to look after themselves and their well-being.
“As nurses, we support each other. Nurses should find time to enjoy themselves no matter what you do. We need to plan how to ease pressure so we can be more productive,” she said.
Comrade Adedeji Awat, the chairman National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwife, Lagos Ministry of Health Unit also advocated for better welfare for nurses, emphasizing the need for them to ease out stress.
“We have been working from January to December and we need time to rest our brain. Part of our work as nurses is to educate people on the need to take care of themselves. People should go for periodic check-ups so that they can live a healthy life. It’s also an opportunity to encourage young nurses because they will take after us,” Awat said.
She added: “We care for people but we feel we also need time to care for ourselves. We are always available for people without having time for relaxation so this is the time for us to rest and meditate.
The nurses also called on the government to invest in continuous training and education of medical personnel.