Posted on: Sat 15-10-2022

The National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Lagos State Council’s attention has been drawn to a video in circulation of a patient who was rushed to Doren Hospital following a Motor vehicle accident. The video has been widely alleged to have been recorded by Nurses on duty who are expected to be attending to the patient in need of urgent medical attention. From any medical professional’s assessment of the clip, it should be immediately doubtful that a registered Nurse would act in that reckless manner and abandon a patient in such a state to make a video clip or even violate their privacy.

The Association has made the necessary enquiry and it is clear that Nurses did not make the video. They instead asked the person who was making the video to stop and assist in lifting the patient into a vehicle for his to be transported to a more resourced facility after their initial medical interventions. This is corroborated by the hospital’s report of the incident. It provided a clear explanation as to what happened and venerated the Nurses in the video. The video was made by those who brought him to the hospital for their own reasons.

It is sad and unfortunate that the patient died. We express our deep condolences to his family and associates in this time of grief and pray for the repose of his soul.

However, we take exception to the hasty misrepresentation and castigation of Nurses and the Nursing profession by the media over this video. It bears a now familiar pattern of blaming Nurses at every opportunity for mishaps in healthcare facilities. It betrays the restraint and professionalism that is expected of media experts who understand the implications of their actions. Nurses who are already underpaid, overworked and undervalued are at the receiving end of the effects of this preconceived notion of the profession fueled majorly by the many years of misrepresentation by the film industry and serial contact with quacks or impersonators of the nursing profession. Nigeria – trained Nurses are leaving the country in record numbers and practicing in many developed countries without anu challenge. They are professionals and are conscious of the weight of responsibility they assumed in caring for others. It is a disservice to the sacrifice they make every day for the well being of others for the media to exploit every available opportunity to cast aspersions on them.

We demand that all media outlets who defamed the nurses and the Nursing profession by their reportage on this video to apologize and immediately make amends to their misleading stories.

We want to assure the public that nurses who have been trained and licensed by the appropriate bodies deliver dcare with empathy and would always put the interest of their patients first. Always ensure you entrust your care into the hands of Professional Nurses and not quacks.

Again, we commiserate with the family and friends of the patient to whom his demise is most devastating. We pray for the fortitude to bear the loss.

NANNM Lagos.

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