There are so many stories about Nigerian nurses and midwives; some pleasant, and others not-so-much. From the very attentive and caring, to the grouchy and very stern; whatever the case may be, nurses are an essential part of a fully functioning healthcare system.
A recent tiktok video that was published on twitter compared the attitudes of Nigerian nurses vs nurses abroad: https://twitter.com/mamaariella/status/1257831968470904832?s=20
In this video, the nurse abroad was clearly more knowledgeable, kinder and more empathetic, while the nigerian nurse was brash and mean-spirited. Before we chime in on propagating this narrative, we need to highlight and understand some of the reasons why you might come across a nurse who doesn’t seem to have the technical knowledge you’d expect from her, or who might seem nonchalant, frustrated or even angry in her approach towards you or another patient.
The role of a nurse is very complex. Nurses serve as a pivotal part of an extremely complex matrix of healthcare workers and patients. I subjectively view them as connectors and facilitators. They connect the patients and their families to other healthcare professionals, e.g. physicians, physiotherapists, nutritionists, etc.; and they are facilitators of therapy, as they administer, monitor and care for patients directly. Nurses spend more time with, and have more direct contact with patients than any other healthcare professional; as such they evidently end up having more knowledge of a patient’s welfare and wellbeing. A good nurse merges technical medical knowledge, tasks and skills, with critical thinking which ensures that they have an in-depth understanding of the physiological and psychological aspects of patient care.
Read Also: World Health Day stresses Nigeria’s need to fix health sector
Nurses make up the single largest healthcare professional group in the Nigerian healthcare system. The nurse-population ratio is low at 1.2 to 1000 population (Ireland: 16.11, United States: 14.5; Ghana: 4.2). This shocking ratio, in addition to the plethora of systemic issues in the educational and professional development of a single nurse, culminate into the issues that are regularly mentioned by Nigerian nurses: time constraints, competing priorities, sleep deprivation, occupational stress, and fatigue.
The Bachelor of Nursing Science (BNSc) Degree is awarded after five years of training, while the midwifery education and other post basic nursing education programmes run for 18 months.. The current curriculum was devised in 1979, and amended in 1988, 1989, 1992 and in 2004, under Decree No. 89, the Nursing and Midwifery (Registration etc) act. Cap. N143, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. The changes reflect the council’s proactive and dynamic approach taken by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (N&MCN) in amending the curriculum to reach regional and international standards.
Unfortunately theoretical guidelines and standards are meaningless in under resourced environments, and ultimately hinder efforts in the development of the nursing workforce. There are 72 approved schools of nursing, and 27 associated post basic nursing education programmes in Nigeria lack the basic educational items which facilitate teaching and learning, such as academic journals and books, up to date and relevant electronics in the form of computers, laboratory equipment and nursing kits.
The benchmark set by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and N&MCN for lecturer to student ratio is 1:10. However, the increasing demand for education in the large Nigerian youth population has seen this ratio to be well over 1 lecturer to 100 students. A trainer who is ill-equipped to train, will train inefficiently, and this ultimately leads to the development of a workforce with multiple gaps in knowledge and skills.
And as is the norm in most Nigerian institutions, occupational hierarchies reign supreme. Medical doctors are paid more and trained better than nurses. The average salary of a Nurse is typically around 265,000 NGN (£500) per month; salaries range from 133,000 NGN (lowest) to 411,000 NGN (highest). Doctors earn from approximately 180,000 NGN as junior doctors to 650,000 NGN (£1230 or more) as fresh consultants; senior consultants earn more. A Registered Nurse in the UK earns between £33,000 to £35,000 per annum.
So before a comparison is made between the demeanour of a healthcare professional in Nigeria versus elsewhere in the world, we must look into why.
