Major Challenges Faced By The Nigerian Nursing Profession And The Way Forward

The Article Of - Nr. Buhari Isma'il

It’s well known that Nursing is a high-pressure job, especially in developing countries like Nigeria where nurses have lots of responsibilities like helping patients, assisting in procedures, updating paperwork, and much more.

Based on my little experience as a Nigerian Nurse, I came across the eight biggest problems/challenges facing the nursing profession in Nigeria. These problems are:

1. Shortage of Manpower

 Nigerian Nurses are encountering greater pressure on duty due to their long working hours. This evident shortage of staff in hospitals makes nurses even perform the nonnursing task and this makes the nurse-patient ratio quite poor, and nurses attend patients in more numbers than they are expected to.

For this to be solved, the government should employ more Nurses to cope with the growing needs of aging populations.

2. Workplace Hazards

Nurses always work with needles, sharp tools, and heavy equipment. They also deal with patients having a highly infectious disease that can endanger their health.

For this to be solved, the government should provide adequate personal protective equipment, a conducive working environment, an improvement of hazard allowances being paid, and refreshments should be adopted.

This can reduce stressful occupations and stress-related health problems.

3. Lack of Recognition

Qualified nurses and midwives, even after pursuing professional status, are not recognized by the government and others, be it their superiors or the community, hence this creates a huge gap between how nurses understand themselves and the way community and government understand nurses.

For this to be solved, nursing leaders must stand to speak for their followers without which the image and value of nurses can never be recognized.

4. Lack of Autonomy

Nigerian nurses have limited autonomy and authority compared to other countries where nurses play a vital role in decision-making at any governmental and nongovernmental stage.

For this to be solved, nursing leaders, representatives, and associations must work hard to see that nurses are always involved in decision-making at any level.

5. Lack of Growth Opportunities

In Nigeria, seats in nursing colleges are increasingly falling vacant and the annual supply of nurses is short. Furthermore, qualified are eagerly looking for better-paid jobs in richer countries. Most of the nurses migrating to high-income countries come from developing countries such as Nigeria, India, Niger, etc.

Nigeria with an already dismal health system is suffering more as nurses are migrating to other countries.

6. Financial Issues

In both public and private sectors, pays are pathetically low compared to other health professionals who work less than nurses.

For this to be solved, nursing leaders must fight for the right of nurses. Nursing leaders must confront relevant national stakeholders and orient them to the long duration of our training and hardworking of nurses in healthcare facilities.

Nursing leaders must fight for better pay for nurses.

7. Poor Leadership

 I don’t have to say much about this, as all we know is that nursing has a mother association (NANNM) which is responsible for promoting the image of nurses, ensuring nurses' best working environment, protecting the right of nurses, representing nurses in decision making, and ensuring that nursing profession has maximum respect and recognition. But nursing leaders aren’t playing any of the above-mentioned roles very well but only focus on what will benefit them, not their fellow followers.

The worst is how the nurses an enclosed to a particular union called JOHESU, the association that uses a higher number of nurses to achieve its goal but is unable to fight for a single goal of nurses.

For this to be solved, nursing leaders must be honest, and justice, be free from fear, be well educated, and have the zeal to serve the profession thereby being out of JOHESU to be an independent association that will fight for its members.

I suggest that for any nurse to be elected to any office must show at least three to five positive changes he has brought into or done to the nursing profession. I also suggest that qualifications must be considered before giving any nurse a right to contest for leadership.

We have professors, and Ph.D. holders in nursing but are left behind when making decisions, these people must be considered and consulted before any decision and their advice must be used despite it will not downgrade the professional image.

8. Political Apathy

 Nurses are passive in politics compared to other health professions. Nurses must participate in politics to represent nurses in making any decisions.

THE WAY FORWARD

There is increasing awareness and demand for academic qualifications for all professional nursing certificates

Thus, there are increasing calls for stakeholders to move nursing education into the mainstream educational programs of the country. More Universities are establishing departments of nursing for a degree program

Many nurses are already insisting that all nursing education programs must be College/University based.

Already, many Nigerian universities are offering BNSc degree programs including part-time programs. More are already offering the MSc and Ph.D. programs in nursing

Many of the products of these nursing programs will be in the clinical areas of practicing nursing Indeed the future of nursing education in Nigeria is the University /College.

The plan to have educational qualifications for the basic and Post basic nursing certificates is being actualized.

NANNM must be out of JOHESU and become an independent association that will fight for its member because the amalgamated union called JOHESU is just using the high number of nurses to satisfy the needs of other member associations under it.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, patients and the public have the right to receive the best treatment & services from healthcare professionals. And this can only be achieved by a motivated and well-prepared workforce.

Sufficing to the requirement of nurses and facing their challenges can make nurses empowered, encouraged, challenged, and affirmed to continue to excel to do their best without any barriers.

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