Quackery in Nursing must stop in Nigeria while professionalism must develop
I was in a private hospital in Lagos precisely on the first Tuesday of this year when a group of people from the hospital management and accreditation team visited the hospital. The hospital trains auxiliary nurses and also employs the quacks. The team almost locked the hospital but didn’t lock it up but subsequently fined the hospital of #200,000 and gave a warning to the trainees to go to school and also the auxiliary staffs should in the next two weeks change their uniform from white to off white colour because white is meant for the registered nurse. I followed up the warning and I saw that the auxiliary staffs now wear blue scrubs while the trainees have been sent away by the Md. I was moved by this and as such thought in my mind that quackery in nursing must stop in Nigeria and if it must stop, the time is now!!! It is about time we separate the weeds (quacks) from the seeds (registered ones).

Nursing profession in Nigeria is way backward compared to other countries due to the increase in quackery, the lives of people must not be left in the hands of these quacks. The quacks portray themselves in a that is detrimental to the perspective of nursing by the people. The sweep and mop the hospitals, walk barefooted, they have poor patient-nurse relationship, poor command of English, they go about in dirty uniforms. All these attributes makes the uninformed people conclude that nurses are poor, dirty maids with no initiative. It is saddening to hear of nurses having sex with patients in the hospital bed, selling a new born for #50,000. All these must STOP!!!

Nursing must be made to have a good public image by eradicating quackery and by the registered ones demonstrating upmost professionalism wherever they may find themselves. The public to be made to understand that nursing is a respectable bi-gender profession and that nurses are not doctors errand, promiscuous, aggressive, unqualified dirty and needless set of people. The perception of people must change and it starts from me and you. The governing body should come out and do the needful, they should fight and win the battle over quackery in Nigeria, they should stand to their toes and lead the way while we follow.

#NURSES are professionals!
#long live nursing profession!!
#long live NANNM!!!

By
Saka Abiodun. J.