I pity nigerian nurses. They are not appreciated. What is working in nigeria the way it should? This country is a mess, every sector is a mess. Zoogeria

Hmm

horlus:
I appreciate your write up but in some cases it's also negligence and carelessness from doctors. I lost my son few weeks ago after being born 4days later to jaundice. Despite the fact my wife kept alerting them that she has an history with jaundice from the theater where she had a casseran procedure. It's a story I don't want to start writing about right now but the child should not be dead if not for carelessness from the hospital doctors. Everyone keeps telling me to sue the hospital I v just decided to let go.

Oh dear, so sorry bro. I guess that is the picture of your son. Take heart my brother, that is the unfortunate situation we find ourselves. God will bless you and your wife with more kids.

good write-up nurse,

its really sadden my heart to see the level of negligence from our government towards health issues/policies

I strongly believe that health workers are trying but still need to try harder cos that's the basis of ur occupation

saving lives in scenario where a patient was brought in unconscious the said patient should be attended to

irrespective of laws guiding the hospital cos saving live is your duty as health workers...

I think what the profession needs is to educate the populace on what and what should be expected from each

sector of the hospital. and I think the number of nurses should be increased by one or two at every shift in case

emergencies and timely response.. we have nurses that are good at the job also that can do the basic operations
such nurses should be allowed to start the job before the doctor arrives cos anything can happen that will delay

the doctor's arrival...

@dalu hope am on point.. come shed light on this pls... Drdauda, lagusta also u all welcome to enlighten us

PAINGAIN:
I pity nigerian nurses. They are not appreciated. What is working in nigeria the way it should? This country is a mess, every sector is a mess. Zoogeria

we all have our path to play too... I pity every sector f our economy... and please let's stop the zoogeria of a thing...

Nobody cares, we Nigerians want the best treatment without payment, are you not paid to do your work. After all, nobody forced you to be a nurse or a doctor.

The above is the typical reasoning of most Nigerians who will read your writeup

horlus:
I appreciate your write up but in some cases it's also negligence and carelessness from doctors. I lost my son few weeks ago after being born 4days later to jaundice. Despite the fact my wife kept alerting them that she has an history with jaundice from the theater where she had a casseran procedure. It's a story I don't want to start writing about right now but the child should not be dead if not for carelessness from the hospital doctors. Everyone keeps telling me to sue the hospital I v just decided to let go.

Awwwwwwww! So sorry.

Leopantro:
Nobody cares, we Nigerians want the best treatment without payment, are you not paid to do your work. After all, nobody forced you to be a nurse or a doctor.

The above is the typical reasoning of most Nigerians who will read your writeup

Exactly.

horlus:
I appreciate your write up but in some cases it's also negligence and carelessness from doctors. I lost my son few weeks ago after being born 4days later to jaundice. Despite the fact my wife kept alerting them that she has an history with jaundice from the theater where she had a casseran procedure. It's a story I don't want to start writing about right now but the child should not be dead if not for carelessness from the hospital doctors. Everyone keeps telling me to sue the hospital I v just decided to let go.

Sorry for your loss Sir. May God almighty give you fortitude to move on and strength to be a pillar for your wife and the rest of your family.

@topic. Any country without health insurance and social security will face the challenges we face. I pay almost 20% of my earnings to the government yet get little or nothing in return. That is a breach of a social contract.

In response to the payment part. I understand from op narration it was an emergency. But for patients who have been registered and hospitals still ask for money before service. What is stopping hospitals from advising patients from the first day of registration to also apply for national health insurance scheme.

I do know that not all hospitals are part of this scheme. It works. With 20000 per year you can Gert good coverage including delivery fully paid for by the scheme.

With this hospitals are guaranteed payment. I also know that the scheme pay hospitals a nominal fee of 50 naira or less per month per registered patient.

Even during emergencies money should not be an issue.

The good thing with nhis scheme is also patients get to review hospitals and you can change. So a hospital receiving bad reviews will be forced to improver itself.

The main issue will now be mushroom hospitals with no facility and people will avoid them. we can also look at proximity to patients during emergencies as the better option. knowing the trend willll be to refer to general hospitals or better ones on the nhis scheme.

By the time people know more as bout his. I believe things will improve

Jackeeh:
Just 2 nurses on duty,covering both Labor and emergency wards? For real?

That's naija for you..
I remeba my 1st year of experience working as a nurse, just me and a chew man female ward/male/ pediatric ward and labor room together all makin abt 27 beds..

Twas crazy, but I that gave me the xperience I have today, though the setup is totaly wrong

With ur perspective 95% of hospitals in Nigeria will be shut down and that 95 % is putting it mildly
Govt needs to heavily invest in health care and human resources for health

delishpot:
Then they should close those akara hospitals. No equipment, no doctor on call, no nurses on duty, No ambulance, No driver on seat, no gen, No keys to pharmacy, No pharmacist on seat, no nothing all they have is the buildings and a staff to give the list of things they dont have when a patient comes in.
Those Akara hospitals should not be allowed to addmit patients or run maternity/Emergency wards and they should be told to close at 5 or 6 pm everyday so every one knows they are not available for work. They should just be clinics to treat cough and cartarh and n9thing more.
If a so called hospital cannot respond to patients and give some form of care while they arrange for the transfer of the patient to a bigger hospital then they should not be allowed to run as a full blown hospital.
Shame on Nigerian government through the years. They should put laws in place that will regulate hospitals
They should be categorized and given licence and operational time based on equipments, number of staff and qualification or experience on doctors and nurses on duty. Enough of the bloodshed. I dey vex o. My blood dey boil.
BTW when will govt step ip health insurance for Nigerians?

horlus:
I appreciate your write up but in some cases it's also negligence and carelessness from doctors. I lost my son few weeks ago after being born 4days later to jaundice. Despite the fact my wife kept alerting them that she has an history with jaundice from the theater where she had a casseran procedure. It's a story I don't want to start writing about right now but the child should not be dead if not for carelessness from the hospital doctors. Everyone keeps telling me to sue the hospital I v just decided to let go.

Oh...sorry about that heavens will console the mother.

horlus:
I appreciate your write up but in some cases it's also negligence and carelessness from doctors. I lost my son few weeks ago after being born 4days later to jaundice. Despite the fact my wife kept alerting them that she has an history with jaundice from the theater where she had a casseran procedure. It's a story I don't want to start writing about right now but the child should not be dead if not for carelessness from the hospital doctors. Everyone keeps telling me to sue the hospital I v just decided to let go.

Damn.
I'm sorry man
Dnt realy knw wat else to say, this is really sad
Such a cute child

I do pity these nurses although some can be very annoying and what is a hospital or health centre without adequate staffs?Na nurses suffer pass and are the least paid compared to doctors,pharmacist and lab scientist in naija...#funi doe#

Most nurses are mean and rude

It often seems like they hate their job and transfer the aggression to patients

LadyFiona:
Hmmmm, you've not seen anything.

I have been on night duty with two ward maids who doubles as my assistants, with three patients in active phase of labour.
I have delivered babies with Nokia torchlight strapped on my hairnet, sutured perineal tears with kerosene lanterns.

No wonder my professional colleagues are writing NCLEX-RN, GFNS, TOEFL and other exams with acronyms I can't remember just to get at of this hellhole.

@topic, nurses are always at the receiving end because they are at the forefront of health service delivery.

Not just nurses even new Medical school grads are on their way out, go see the number of PLAB applicants from Nigeria and you'll be wowed

LadyFiona:
Hmmmm, you've not seen anything.

I have been on night duty with two ward maids who doubles as my assistants, with three patients in active phase of labour.
I have delivered babies with Nokia torchlight strapped on my hairnet, sutured perineal tears with kerosene lanterns.

No wonder my professional colleagues are writing NCLEX-RN, GFNS, TOEFL and other exams with acronyms I can't remember just to get at of this hellhole.

@topic, nurses are always at the receiving end because they are at the forefront of health service delivery.

Not just nurses even ne Medical school grads are on their ay out, Most of those I know are onto IELTs immediately after grad.

horlus:
I appreciate your write up but in some cases it's also negligence and carelessness from doctors. I lost my son few weeks ago after being born 4days later to jaundice. Despite the fact my wife kept alerting them that she has an history with jaundice from the theater where she had a casseran procedure. It's a story I don't want to start writing about right now but the child should not be dead if not for carelessness from the hospital doctors. Everyone keeps telling me to sue the hospital I v just decided to let go.

It is well with you and your family, Sir. Such Cutie

A lot of things have deteriorated in Nigeria, the system needs to be rebuilt. Workers need to be paid and motivated to work. Its a general problem, if you check the payroll of that hospital you will see not less than 50 workers but when you go there its only 4 you will see on ground. We cannot sow yam and reap rice, even in teaching hospital, if you don't have money there is not much that can be done. Some staff even use their own money to buy drugs and disposables for patients.

Our present culture does not allow dedication to duty, no incentive to go the extra mile, sometimes the staff are so over worked they just can't give their best.

If you guys have no doctors or inadequate personnel then please close the hospital.
It's not an excuse you are giving. The duty of every medical personnel is to save life. Imagine how silly you are to say what you have said and called it a defence.
Haven't you met doctors who try to save accident victims even when they do not have their kits with them? They use whatever is available and make an attempt. No matter the situation, the medical personnel should make an attempt to help, reassure the patient and kindly refer them somewhere else.
This is not usually the case as our Nigerian nurses and doctors are arrogant and treat you like thrash.
Like the Nigerian society, you are only treated with respect if you have money.
Mr/Madam nurse, you excuse or defense is lame. The family of the man should have lynched you also. You people's attitude and not lack of facilities caused the man's death.

horlus:
I appreciate your write up but in some cases it's also negligence and carelessness from doctors. I lost my son few weeks ago after being born 4days later to jaundice. Despite the fact my wife kept alerting them that she has an history with jaundice from the theater where she had a casseran procedure. It's a story I don't want to start writing about right now but the child should not be dead if not for carelessness from the hospital doctors. Everyone keeps telling me to sue the hospital I v just decided to let go.

Sorry for your Loss.

I wonder if "HOSPITAL POLICY" would also apply if it were a family member of the nurse that needs emmergency attention? The fact remains that most nurses are mean and lazy.

It's pointless having hospitals that are poorly equipped and poorly staffed. The majority of the preventable deaths that happen in hospitals in Nigeria are mainly due to negligence. It's a sad reflection on the country as a whole that medical personnel have lost a sense of empathy, in so much that they would rather a patient died than make personal sacrifices.

Let me weigh into the discussion.
Firstly, Op you have spoken well and have spoken our mind. The state of health care in Nigeria is appalling to say the least. Lemme give my experience :
During my service year, I was the only doctor covering a general hospital in Ebonyi state and also the only health professional who 'sleeps -in'. After over working myself with the out patients, probably had one or two surgeries, I'd then be faced with call duty which is another story entirely. I play the role of doctor, nurse, pharmacist and oftentimes, health records. Oftentimes I get woken up at midnight by a woman in labour. With no nurse or midwife to assist me, I have to do what I have to do, as if I turn them away, they would end up with untrained traditional birth attendants. I have conducted countless deliveries including daring ones (twin gestations, breech, and placenta previa) sometimes with just one forceps and one scissors and just a head lamp. Ethically, this is wrong, but does my patient understand ethics, These I did 24/7 for a year and I was paid for just two months.
Bottom line is this : No one appreciates the circumstances we have to work under, ofcus we don't need your sympathy, but be guided by your glib talk and vituperations (like the poster above) cos many of you have inherent disdain for health professionals and nothing we say here would change it.

@horius: so sorry for your loss. May the good Lord comfort you and your wife. Something as basic as health care should not be negotiated. This country 's leaders have finished us.

If a man or woman is about to die, you are meant to do something not caring about the money, at least revive the patient to a point. I think staring at a patient who is half dead and doing nothing when you have the ability to do something is very heartless.

horlus:
I appreciate your write up but in some cases it's also negligence and carelessness from doctors. I lost my son few weeks ago after being born 4days later to jaundice. Despite the fact my wife kept alerting them that she has an history with jaundice from the theater where she had a casseran procedure. It's a story I don't want to start writing about right now but the child should not be dead if not for carelessness from the hospital doctors. Everyone keeps telling me to sue the hospital I v just decided to let go.

What really happened.. ?
What's the hospital setting like.. ..?

I really want to thank a professional colleague for this wonderful write up. You have only listed few of our problems. The question I ask myself is why is it that nurses have lost their voices, the public generally does not appreciate us because of the different image they get especially from all these so called auxiliary nurses and nollywood.The health care system is so bad in Nigeria that even the regulatory and licensing bodies for health care professionals are sleeping (story for another day). I just keep hoping that one day, health care professionals will go in strike mainly for all these issues and not money, even if the government don't attend to all the problems, at least little will be solved. Another major point is that the populace should be made to understand that health care is not free, someone has to bear the cost, if not the government, then individuals must. We all know that hardly will any hospital attend to you without cash because of how the hospital policy is, therefore spare yourself the stress and heartache to always g o with little money. Patients cannot be trusted also, personally I have paid for patients that I stood in for that the will up their bills later only for them to abscond from the hospital. Patients should know their rights and demand for such but consider the overworked and overstretched staff when doing so. It is a sad situation but we all have to adjust and make things work. God bless the souls of the departed and strengthen their family.

If our political leaders use our hospitals then they will fix the rot in the health system. The CMDs and board members have looted billions from the resources made available and generated revenue. No one cares to know. Why? Our politicians and policy makers can take the next flight abroad for medicare.

Mchew.. Nonsense... So u people value rules more dan human life.. God will punish all of you on d last day.. Was it not Jesus who healed a soul on d sabath? And wen confronted by the Jews, he told dem a life is more important dan the sabath...