In a hospital set up, a Doctor cannot claim to be more important than a Nurse, a Nurse cannot claim superiority over a Pharmacist, a Pharmacist cannot claim superiority over a Lab scientist, a Lab scientist cannot claim superiority over a Radiographer.
A Radiographer cannot claim superiority over a Mortician, a Mortician cannot claim superiority over a Dietician, a Dietician cannot claim superiority over a Social worker, a Social worker cannot claim superiority over a Physiotherapist, a Physiotherapist cannot claim superiority over the Environmental officer.
An Environmental officer cannot claim superiority over a Health Educator, a Health Educator cannot claim superiority over a horticulturalist that provides aesthetic values while a Horticulturalist cannot claim superiority over a Laundry man, a Laundry man cannot claim superiority over a Record officer.....and so on and so forth to list a few of the hospital staff because each profession is distinct and unique in it's orientation, education and services offered.
Don't forget that I've not even mentioned those in the Administration and Finance including the Maintenance Engineers of the different equipment that are so diverse as the few listed above.
Health is one big family set up and neither can do without the other ; as all profession have independent, interdependent and dependent roles and responsibilities.
In each of these professions, there are also specialists who cannot claim superiority over other specialists. It's a matter of choice and these professionals influence the patient one way or the other right from the time the patient enters the hospital premises till discharge and even at the home environment.
Health is a team business!
Why should I object to a Cleaner earning the same salary as mine, a Nurse? Is it my Father's money? Is the work of a Cleaner not as important as mine in the hospital? Let me give you an analogy, if say for example, all the wastes generated in the hospital are not removed for instance, everyone of us, including those who believed that "they are born to rule" in the hospital environment may die of cholera, pollution or what have you, so how do you quantify or rate the role and responsibilities of a Cleaner?
Is these variables not the reason why some will gladly take up some jobs while other jobs are rejected ; yet these so-called skillful people go to London or USA to remove wastes from homes without any qualms yet believes such jobs are beneath them here!
Why? Because the pay is good over there! So what they are saying in essence is that if the pay is good, there is no big deal in dignity once it is done elsewhere? Right? How crazy do we get with this colonial mentality?
THE POLITICS OF NIGERIA EDUCATION SYSTEM
Some members of the health team believe they deserve higher pay because they spend longer time in the school? But I ask you, does the number of years make them better professionals than those that spend less years outside our shores!
Who decides the number of years needed here?
The school cabals!
Take a look at my Journey as a Nurse in Nigeria
I spent 9 years to obtain my first four diplomas in Nursing, another PGD for one year and two years for an allied Master's course. Then our leaders decided it is Bachelor's of Science in Nursing or nothing for me to be relevant in my field.
When I and others took up the courage to earn it, we were told that we must spend 5 good years to obtain it! The same years that a secondary school student uses.
Why are they doing that?
It is to discourage you so that their children sent to use less years overseas can be brought back to start at the top over you!
Let's calculate the years spent in the different schools of Nursing.That is 5years plus10years, making 15 years! The alleged foremost university in Southwest Nigeria make sure you spend four years post BNSc to acquire an MNSc, the same Masters in Nursing Science that all you spend in school in South Africa is 9months! How ludicrous do they get?
If it is not Babcock University that came up with a rescue programme of 2 years MNSc programme, the so called cabals will not reduce their 4years to 2 years!
So to acquire Master's in Nursing Science, it costs you some 20years if you're a peasant's daughter like me who cannot go overseas to spend just 4 or 5 years for same qualification and by the time you settled down to be more useful in your profession, your retirement comes in and all knowledge acquired becomes useless with the exception of those who choose to go outside our shores who are made relevant there!
If you choose to run a maternity home here because of your passion for the job and have no godfather, you have Hefama, Traditionalists, double taxation, lawma, law and occupational enforcement agents, manipulative lawyers, junk journalists, machinations of other professionals in the health sector, government fluctuating policies and a host of others to contend with yet TBAs and faith based clinics practice without molestation and they cry about high indices?
How hypocritical can people get?
A lot of our intelligent Nurse Leaders found themselves in this quandary!
That is a tip of the iceberg of Nigeria's health education system of the cabals who keep a stranglehold on the system. Who will liberate the pupils? I doubt in our time, but maybe in the generation to come!
Did I tell you that you're made to spend seven good years after obtaining the Bachelor's of Nursing Science before you're allowed to move into the Directorate level by the Establishment cabals?
In Lagos State, I must say special thanks to our amiable and labour friendly Governor Ambode's liberation policies ; otherwise a lot will not smell that till they retire and all their efforts would have been wasted and their vision aborted!
That's Nigeria for you! So I ask again, does the number of years spent in schools make the individual a better professional?
Maybe, Maybe not!
The real issues here is that health care is dynamic, it's not static, most of the learning is on the job! It is more of a practical thing and the mode of application changes all the time so the number of years spent in school is not only ridiculous, unnecessary but callous in it's entirety!!!
Do you know that despite the 9years of Medical School in Nigeria, you simply have to begin Medical School again in UK and USA if you want to practice there! Why? Because they don't believe in our education system!
We don't believe in them either! The degree of our medical tourism tell them all they need to know, particularly when we can't even treat ear infection here and misdiagnose cancer for Asthma as in Gani's case despite passing through over ten Doctors and others more like this, then we are unreliable.
Besides our indices are almost the highest in the world! Yet if allowed, the cabals will keep our children in Medical school for higher years as it's being advocated for now to prove superiority of a course over the others despite the fact that they can't exist on their own!
It is laughable what the young doctors are made to go through these days. They are made to do dressing, give health talk, serve medications, palpate pregnant women, do vitals, give episiotomy, run IV lines, learn nursing diagnosis and what have you.... things which all hitherto were Nursing duties ; to show that they are the leaders of everyone in the hospital while their core duties are left undone. A more of "jack of all trades and masters of none?"
You can't be the doctor and the Nurse at the same time however hard you try, that's the simple truth!
A lot of brilliant students who wish to read Medicine are given microbiology, biochemistry, physics, chemistry, Physiotherapy etc because their parents do not belong to the cabals while their children are given their choice courses which cannot happen in other climate. These same children have to come back and begin again if they really desire Medicine.
So what do we have?
We have a lot of willing and intelligent students who never made medical schools and a lot of unwilling students who are forced to read medicine because they are their children and those of their cronies. In this instance, does the number of years spent in the school make a better physician?
Your answer is as good as mine!
If you doubt me, go and ask the best graduating Medical student set 2016 of a university in Ogun State, he will tell you that he first of all earn an HND, a BSC before he was admitted for Medicine which was his first choice all along.
He was weeping by the time he finished narrating all the years it took him to acquire a bachelor's of Medicine and Surgery! Must we do that to our children and to prove what?
Look at all the huddles place in the path of our young ones, that is if you can afford to pay the astronomical fees created by those who enjoyed free educational system of the Awolowo era despite pretending to be an Awoist and progressive. In the next few years we will be having educated parents who cannot send their children to schools despite being the children of illiterates!
Yet they pegged employment age at 25years when they ensure that the pupils don't finish until 30 years of age! We are simply destroying our youths and what they could offer by keeping them perpetually in schools to prove a point!
My Opinion
If you choose to spend 15 years to acquire an MBBS, or 10 years to earn a BNSc it is your prerogative. Spend all your youthful years needlessly in the school for all I care but in reality, all personnel in the hospital set up are equally important, equally trained to be relevant and equally exposed to the same hazard and thus deserve better pay packages.
For these reasons and many more that cannot be highlighted here, I say YES TO HARMONIZATION OF SALARIES OF THE HEALTH SYSTEM!
Good morning all.
Written by Lateef Yusuf Mary (LASUTH)