Preamble
The
University Graduates of Nursing Science Association (UGONSA) a.k.a Graduate
Nurses Association of Nigeria (GNAN), the professional association of nurses
with a minimum qualification of first degree in nursing science, held her
Expanded National Stakeholders’ (ENS) meeting on 3rd June, 2017 where it
deliberated on a number of contemporary issues affecting the welfare and
progress of its members as well as the growth and development of the Nursing
profession and general issues in the Nigerian health system.
Appreciation
Special appreciation goes to the
Enugu State Chapter of the association and its members for their hospitality
and liveliness that gave the event a successful mean.
Resolutions
After exhaustive deliberations, the following
resolutions were made by the ENS:
1. The ENS observed that scenarios which triggered the current epidemics of meningitis witnessed in the country were preventable and called on Government at all levels and the private sector to revert to and sustain, at all times, the concerted preventive measures deployed during the Ebola scourge in the year 2014 as such has been proven to be capable of containing notable deadly infectious diseases like meningitis, Lassa Fever, Tuberculosis and Ebola.
2. The
ENS commended the Federal Government for its unrelenting effort to make the
best out of the country but strongly frowned at the unbearable level of
killings and destruction of properties of innocent Nigerians by terrorist
groups especially the rampaging herdsmen. The ENS equally frowned at the
heightened incidence of kidnappings in the country, which it described as
“unacceptable” and called on the Federal Government to apply pragmatic workable
measures to stimulate the security agents to rise to the challenge and live up
to expectation.
3. The
ENS paid a hearty tribute to all fallen heroes/heroines of nursing and
particularly eulogized the contributions of Late Alhaji (Nur.) Suleiman Bello
and Late Nur. Ejelonu Justina Obioma. While Late Alhaji (Nur.) Suleiman Bello
was the Nurse-Minister of Health for States, who selflessly helped the graduate
nurses in particular and the profession in general to achieve some notable
feats such as having a director of nursing services at the Federal Ministry of
Health. Late Nur. Ejelonu Justina Obioma was the nurse that sacrificed her live
to save the entire country from the Ebola scourge by successfully implementing
the restriction order placed on Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian diplomat that
imported Ebola into Nigeria.
4. ENS
approved establishment of a memorial fund in honour of Late Nur. Ejelonu
Justina Obioma, from which the sum of twenty thousand naira (N20, 000.00) would
be given out annually to the best graduating Nursing Student(s) of her Alma
Mater, Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki on the interim with a hope of
extending such, in the long run, to other schools as the fund grows. This is to
ensure that her name and the selfless sacrifice she made for the whole country
remains on our lips and in our minds as the association strongly canvasses for
a national posthumous honour for her.
5. The
ENS-in-session strongly emphasized the need for the Nursing and Midwifery
Council of Nigeria (NMCN) to create differential and separate registers for
various categories of nurses based on educational qualifications - such as
‘NMCN qualifications only’, B.Sc Nursing/B.N.Sc, M.Sc (Nursing), P.hD (Nursing)
and Post P.hD (Nursing) and accordingly called on the council to urgently
commence the process of effecting same.
6. The
ENS observed that some departments of Nursing of Nigerian universities that
offer nursing science are yet to align with and cue into the progressive policy
of enlisting fresh graduate nurses into UGONSA at their induction ceremonies.
Such departments were urged to reach out to the National leadership of the
association and get the association involved in their future induction
ceremonies to afford their graduands the opportunity of having the needful
professional orientation and other benefits afforded by the association.
7. The
ENS also announced the plan of the association to partner with the Journal of
Middle East and North African Sciences (JMENAS) for the purpose of elevating
its journal, THE NURSING SCOPE, to impact factor status for global outreach and
recognition.
8. The
ENS-in-session frowned at the current poor rate of hazard allowance being paid
to Nurses/Midwives, which it said was a sign of non-appreciation of the gallant
and altruistic efforts and sacrifices made by Nurses and Midwives in client
care and handling of epidemics of infectious diseases by the government of
Nigeria, and strongly called on the concerned authorities especially the
honourable Minister of Health, Head of Service of the Federation, and the
executive Chairman of National Salaries,
Income, and Wages Commission (NSIWC) – to immediately make an upward review of
the hazard allowance in commensuration with the all day, round-the-clock exposure
to clinical hazards suffered by Nurses and Midwives.
9. The
ENS harshly condemned the non-restoration of teaching allowance to Nurses and
Midwives on CONHESS 07 and 08, even when a Federal Ministry of Health’s
circular –Ref No.C.2262/T/110 dated 29th July, 2015, directed for
its restoration in accordance to the extant circulars from the National
Salaries, Income and Wages Commission– Ref no.SWC/S/04/S.176/T/73 dated 4th
July, 2014. The association maintained that all nurses and midwives,
irrespective of grade or cadre, are involved in clients’ care and teaching and
as well in clinical tutelage of students on clinical posting and that there is
no rational basis for violating the extant circular that authorized the payment
of teaching allowance to clinical staff by cruelly withdrawing same from nurses
and midwives on CONHESS 07 and 08. Accordingly, the association advised the
honourable Minister of Health to urgently see to the end of such ill-treatment
deliberately meted out to nurses and midwives with unbridled impunity by
restoring the payment of teaching allowance to nurses and midwives on CONHESS
07 and 08.
10. The
ENS-in-session observed that the date for the UGONSA 2017 National Professional
Conference and Scientific Updates scheduled to hold from 10th to 14th
July, 2017 was very close to the date of the conference of the West African
College of Nursing (WACN). Because a significant number of UGONSA members are
also Fellows of the WACN, the association elected to shift the date of her
conference from the earlier scheduled date of 10th to 14th
July, 2017 to a new date of 25th to 29th September, 2017
as continuing with the date would mount a strenuous burden on members who may
struggle to cover both events within the limit of available time as a considerable
number have shown strong interest in attending both events.
11. The
ENS equally observed that apart from Enugu, Ebonyi and Rivers states, other
states are yet to remit the twenty five thousand naira (N25, 000.00) levied on
States for running National office since last ENS held in the year 2014. All
the States that are yet to comply were mandated to remit theirs to the UGONSA
National Account, 3089525712, First Bank, before the last date of August, 2017.
12. ENS mandated States to organize themselves into
viable chapters and run sound nursing scientific sessions during the compulsory
monthly meetings to reflect and drive the professionalism which the association
stands for.
13. The
ENS implored all Chief Medical Directors(s)/Medical Director(s) of government
owed hospitals, especially the Teaching Hospitals and Federal Medical Centre(s)
(FMCs), that are yet to include nurse interns in their internship training to
make such an integral part of their future advertisements for interns and as
well rectify the under-placement of the already employed graduate nurses and
make further appointments of graduate
nurses post-NYSC to reflect the parity they have with their counterparts in
other healthcare disciplines, in the spirit of equity and fairness.
14. ENS
noted that NMCN, in its implementation guide for internship programme of the
graduates of the B.N.Sc degree, identified 22 Teaching Hospitals as the only
accredited centres for the nurses’ internship training, without recourse to the
fact that FMCs and some capable private institutions have been handling the
internship training of the fresh graduates of other healthcare disciples
successfully. This was observed to run contrary to the council’s position
during its 2017 Kaduna nurse leadership conference where it emphasized that no
restriction was placed on capable institutions, including FMCs and private
institutions. ENS strongly called on NMCN to urgently lift this blanket
restriction on some capable institutions, especially the FMCs, and allow them
to run internship training for nurses as they do for other healthcare
disciplines to hasten the development of our nascent internship programme. This
should be done by reviewing page 9 of the internship guide to include the
clause - “All Federal Medical Centres and capable Private Institutions”.
15. Finally, the
ENS-in-session applauded the ongoing campaign against quackery by individuals
and various group of nurses on social and electronic media and enjoined that
such should be aggressively sustained as quackery has remained a rooted albatross
in the profession and has dealt a devastating blow to our public image and
respectability.
Signed:
Chief (Hon.) Solomon.E.O Egwuenu – National
President
Nur. Goodluck .I. Nshi – National Secretary
Nur. Afoi Barry
– National
PRO and Chairman of Communiqué Committee
Nur. Nwodo Chijioke Olive – Secretary of Communiqué
committee
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