Nursing Education Challenges in Nigeria - The way forward

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Kunle Emmanuel
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Nursing Education Challenges in Nigeria - The way forward

Unread post by Kunle Emmanuel »

Discussion from our Facebook group page written by Ezike Okwudili Calistus
Irregularities and Lack Direction in nursing Education: The Role of Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria.

It is not new to any nurse that of all the functions of NMCN, the most vital is regulation of training, registration and licensing of nurses in Nigeria. Over the years, the training has been rotatory, directionless and lack uniformity.

It is regrettably lugubrious that one would spend 3 years in school of nursing, 2years in school of midwifery, some may go ahead to spend another 18 months in other areas of specialization only to go back to school to spend another 5 years to acquire degree in Nursing. Likewise, a nurse would go through the university to get BNSc and acquire degree and still found herself in post-basic school of nursing in pursue of an unquantified certificate called post basic nursing certificate. One would therefore wonder which one is higher; is it the post basic certificate or BNSc certificate?

Does these analyses not indications that nursing education in Nigeria is directionless. Those who go for post basic after BNSc do so because they want to get job faster or probably get more pay. Those who go for BNSc after 4 to 5 post basic certificates do so probably because they want to go beyond Grade level 13 benchmark.

Thus showing cyclical, irregular, uncoordinated and directionless method of training nurses. There should be harmonization of nursing education and methods of training for the good of the profession. Nurses should therefore speak with one voice under NANNM for the harmonization of nursing education in Nigeria.

These are my own recommendations:
1. Well equipped schools of nursing owned by government should be affiliated to Universities so they can award degree and others closed up by NMCN as was done in Ghana recently.

2. BNSc should become the only requirement for getting job in nursing in Nigeria from 2020.

3. Those who have started work without BNSc should be given the opportunity for two years update academic programme leading to award of degree. Those who graduated from schools of nursing but have no job should also be involved.

4. All post basic schools should be upgraded to Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) schools which only those who have graduated from the universities and wish to major in any area of nursing can attend.

Every nurse should join us in this call for change. We can not continue like this. Thank you.

Ezike Okwudili Calistus FMC Asaba.
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Kunle Emmanuel
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Re: Nursing Education Challenges in Nigeria - The way forward

Unread post by Kunle Emmanuel »

Comments from our facebook group page
Vivian Mormah Ebifa Good, lovely, nice, God help us and so on will not help our situation. We need to sacrifice our time, money, energy and act in one voice, go on demonstration, strike for us to achieve all these goals.
Adebayo Oguntayo This proposal is good, but definitely unworkable. A BNSc can't be the entry level for all nurses. USA has best nursing programs today, yet we have different entry levels - from Certified Nurse Assistant (6months training) and license regulated by the State DNS, through Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse (12-15 months); 2-YR Associate Degree; 2-yr Bachelor Degree Completion; 4-yr BSN, 12-18 months Accelerated BSN for degree holders in other fields.

Nigeria has deficient in manpower in our universities. NUC will never approve affiliation where all nursing schools do not have manpower. How many nurse tutors have M.Sc. talk less of PhD. So, that's not feasible.

The first step is to have more universities offering PG degrees in Nursing. That will cater for manpower shortage and in turn produce more BNSc holders. We may have to push for emergency funding for higher nursing education for people to travel abroad to study and return in 2-5yrs for masters and PhD. Folks, a lot needs to be done. The challenges are many. I had proposed these options for the council some years back, but unfortunately am sorry to say many of the policy makers/ implementors are clueless. We can help, provided they are willing. Let us hope the new Registrar will cooperate with like minds to assist nursing profession in Nigeria. Even the curriculum from nursing of school to university is still doesn't conform with global trend.

God bless Nursing in Nigeria! God bless Nigeria!!
Ezike Okwudili Calistus We have enough manpower, until we ask, we will not know we have. UNN graduated 35 MSc students early this year. UI also graduated a good number of MSc nurses. Many nurses have MPH, MSc and PhD and are still working in hospitals. Not until we go beyond imaginations, we will not move.
Remember that one lecturer can cover more than two schools in a specific area.
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Re: Nursing Education Challenges in Nigeria - The way forward

Unread post by Kunle Emmanuel »

Adebayo Oguntayo Ezike, I may be resident abroad but I am at home as well. I have contacts with many nursing schools and universities in Nigeria. I am an academic. I know what am saying. Can you imagine a northern university has a doctor as HOD Nursing because they must meet NUC requirements for accreditation. You will know better if you are an academic.

Why is it that some universities close down their nursing departments? No manpower. You have a number of lecturers with specific research papers before being accredited. Many universities have provisional accreditation. A friend of mine who is a professor used to teach full time in 2 universities simultaneously. ABU Zaria had to go recruit lecturers from Egypt. I am an insider and I have done researches on the need to attract people into academics. Only 6 universities offer masters in nursing, even in very limited specialties. Go and read '41 Careers in Nursing' or better still '33 Careers in Nursing' by JOYCE FITZGERALD. You will know Nursing is JUST ABOUT TO START in Nigeria. .

Many times I enter demonstration rooms of our nursing schools and departments, I am bemused. No training equipment at all. I do collect and even donate materials and books from to some schools in Nigeria. Please, my brother, there is more to it than you think
Vivian Mormah Ebifa Agreed buh we can start from somewhere. We need fund to kick off n equip the demonstration rooms. We pay hugely for renewal of licence, what is d money used for.
Hassanat Anaza Good recommendations, just hope our people at the helm of affairs will take this up and make a change in our Noble profession. kudos
Musirafat Adeola Your point is good and well explanatory, May God help us through.
Chile Christy My dear you have said it all there is nothing more to add to it. This is a good step to good direction.. May God help us to achieve this in no distant time. Look at our sisters country Ghana... N look at Nigeria..... Two years to obtain theirs N our colleagues r risking their lives shuttling to N fro... May God deliver us... IJN AMEN....
Princess Ngozi Madukasi Thank you for this. This same question have been going on in my mind for a very long time. I thought I am the only person feeling the pain of wasting time in school after being equipped with the basic knowledge.
Princess Ngozi Madukasi Another issue that disturbs me is the lack of unfriendly relationship among nurses. Insults from other people, I may endure, but insult from colleagues (senior or junior) is heartbreaking. How do we solve this
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Re: Nursing Education Challenges in Nigeria - The way forward

Unread post by Desy75 »

I'm new here, everything is very interesting.
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