THE National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) has called for capacity building of nurses in the country through training and retraining to discourage medical tourism.

Mrs Ruth Adore, the branch Chairperson of NANNM, General Hospital Minna, Niger State, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Friday.

She said a lot of opportunities abound for nurses to go on local and foreign training but the chances slip off because employers do not sponsor them for such empowerment.

She noted that such opportunities would enhance their skills and update their knowledge on modern medical methodology.

“It is selfish on the part of Niger Government because they have made us miss so many opportunities locally and internationally.

“The only way medical tourism can be minimised is for government to give us training and retraining.

“When they avail us such opportunities, they will be achieving many things at a time; patients will not want to travel out of the state to assess medical care.

“It is unethical, it is crude and unprofessional for us to remain just with the knowledge we acquired while we were in school,” she said.

She added capacity building would help nurses tackle medical healthcare challenges.

Adore also decried the substandard medical apparatus at their disposal, saying it is a huge disregard to quality healthcare delivery.

“The most common apparatus we use like sphygmomanometer for measuring blood pressure most times fails us because what we have as tool is substandard and it slows our daily routine.

“It is our daily routine apparatus but it usually fails us because it is not original.

“We cannot continue like this, in human health you do not gamble or joggle with any tool that is fake because it is tantamount to quackery,” she said.

Adore however appealed to the state government to check for quality while placing order for medical equipment.

“There is need to carry us along while contracting for the purchase of medical equipment.

“We use them and our input will go a long way in achieving the very best for us and the state,” she said.

While appealing to Gov. Sani Bello to give the association the opportunity to see him on varied issues, Adore said that would help them and the state in addressing challenges of the sector.

“He needs to know the problem that is bedevilling us and the health system as whole.

“Managing medical resources or using substandard equipment will swindle us medically and economically, the consequence is grave because we will fail in rendering quality health services,” she said. (NAN)

– Jun. 22, 2018 @ 19:19 GMT |