THE National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), on Monday urged its members to keep abreast of the trends in the nursing profession.

Mrs Oluyemisi Adelaja, the NANNM Chairman, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba chapter, made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

“To tackle today’s health challenges, we must be conversant with the new trend in nursing, empower ourselves through capacity building, training and bringing health to all,” Adelaja said.

She also advised them to always be a voice to lead because they play a pivotal role in the healthcare delivery.

Adelaja said that nurses were patients’ advocate, which means that they should be at the fore-front of advocating unhindered access to health for their clients, families and the society.

“As nurses ,we must be at the fore-front in policy making in healthcare system and our respective communities.

“We must know that the Patients Bill of Rights, recently launched, is nurse-centered.

“As patients’ advocate, we need to collaborate with other health professionals in giving the best to our patients,” she said.

Also, Mrs Aderonke Adetunji, the Director, Nursing Education in LUTH, said that the role of nurses in ensuring health promotion, diseases prevention and rehabilitation makes it very germane for nurses to keep up with global changes in nursing.

Adetunji said that nurses must ensure that every Nigerian enjoys the right to health without discrimination.

“Being a voice to lead requires that you leave your comfort zones, be change agents, collaborate and participate actively in policy making and implementation.

“According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), nurses and midwives represent nearly one and half of the total number of health workers around the world.

“However, WHO estimates that the world will need an additional nine million nurses and midwives by 2030 for all the countries to reach Sustainable Development Goal Three (SDGs),” she said.

Adetunji urged nurses to cooperate, work together, empower themselves, get more education and be better equipped to tackle today’s health challenges in the country.

Commenting, Mrs Adeduntan Oyegoke, the Acting, Head of Department, Nursing Services Department, LUTH, said that nurses were the vitals of health terms, playing roles in the health promotion, disease prevention and treatment.

Oyegoke said that the quality of their initial assessment, care and treatment were very vital.

“Nurses are often the first and sometimes the only health professional that some people will see.

“Achieving universal health coverage requires well motivated nurses, who are appropriately compensated for the work they do.

“Since we contribute to the development of the healthy nation, our voices need to be heard.

“This is because our voices are the voices of individuals, families, groups and communities with whom we work.

“As a professional, all nurses’ associations have significant influence; they bring profession together to achieve solidarity in our goals.

“They have the ability to harness the wisdom and passion of the profession to facilitate both within the country and global scale.

“Every nurse should contribute his or her quota to the upliftment of the profession and better care for our patients and the community as a whole,” Oyegoke said. (NAN)

– Aug. 20, 2018 @ 17:55 GMT |