Every profession or job on the surface of the earth has its fair share of hazards or risks. Pilots face plane or helicopter crashes, journalists face deaths or being sued for libel, firefighters face death by fire. The list goes on and on.

The job hazards therefore make it imperative for people to wisely choose professions that they not only have a passion for but is more or less their divinely orchestrated calling so as to drastically reduce the hazards that come with it as some hazards are avoidable.

Psychiatric nurses are no exception to the rule as one of the hazards of the jobs is the assault of the nurses by the patients due to no fault of the latter.

A psychiatric nurse of Ghanaian origin based in the US, Philip Ofori Yentumi shared his experience as a nurse with DJ Nyaami of SVTV Africa. According to him, a patient once head-butted him and he couldn’t remember anything for about five minutes. He said his goal is to reduce the stigma associated with psychiatric illness.

He said that psychiatric nursing was a special calling and that it was a medical condition like diabetes and that the patients sometimes act unconsciously. He went on to say that psychiatric nurses are trained in measures to avoid physical harm and that some nurses despite the rigorous training ended up with broken ribs.

Mr. Philip has a doctorate in nursing and said that he loved and was dedicated to his calling as he didn’t describe it as a job despite the hazards.

This is great news coming from him as a strong work ethic is necessary to function effectively as a psychiatric care provider at any level.

We remember the selfless contributions made by Florence Nightingale to the development of nursing which will forever immortalize her great name and etch it in gold. Her legacy also extends to psychiatric nursing as well as they even need more dedication to duty since the ailment in most cases is a chronic one which deserves a lot of specialist care and management.

The kind of noble work that psychiatric nurses do deserves a lot of attention from the government especially in developing or emerging economies. There should be huge budgetary allocations which should accrue to mental health. It is a shame that many psychiatric nurses in Nigeria – the Giant with the feet of clay are fleeing to the West or Asia for a better life when there are acute shortages of them there. These nurses excel abroad as the conditions for working makes them shine as constant as the Northern Star. The government in developing countries really needs to sit up and devise sturdy public policies to protect the nurses from going into forced economic exile.

Do these nurses have an effective insurance in the workplace in Nigeria and other African countries? What happens to them if they die, get permanently maimed or disabled in the course of official duty? These are some of the pertinent questions that ring continuously in the minds of these nurses who in most cases have no choice but to vote with their two feet by opting out of Nigeria and Africa to secure the bag or a nest egg for themselves and their dependents.

We commend Mr. Philip for being faithful to his calling in spite of the hazards and hope that many African nurses toe the same line.

A big thumbs up to all courageous psychiatric nurses worldwide!

SOURCE: https://africavoiceshq.com/2022/07/03/job-hazard-a-patient-head-butted-me-psychiatric-nurse-by-tony-ademiluyi/

firefighters face death by fire.

…and lung cancer in later life.