The Nursing and Midwifery council requires those who studied Nursing as a degree course for 5years at the University level to take a professional exam before they are qualified to practice, those who studied at the Schools of Nursing for 3 years also want to be allowed to take the same examination and subsequently be on the same salary level and want the ceiling on their career progression to go beyound grade level 12. 

 

Below are excepts from the interview:

 

Q; What is the major reason for this strike if the Federal Government does'nt respond to the Calls in the next 6 days as Nurses have threathened to go on strike, also lets look at this decriminatory scheme of service you've talked about saying it has been on for 35 years!:

 

Adeniji: The scheme of service is a genre of work and career progression of any worker in the public service of the federation. That of Nurses is a development that has been on for 35 years from the time of IEB award in 1981 we have been having a lot of dialog with the government and if the publc will recall that last year there was to be a nationwide industrial action which was halted because we thought at that time that the action would not be right.

 

Q: And what do you think is right now?

A; The caution that came up then and the attention the issue was receiving the tempo was down and there seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel, most of the things we though of as green lights is dimming and Nigerian Nurses are no more comfortable with this and that is why the National Executive council of the National Association Of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives met in Abuja and the resolution was to give the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (#NMC) which regulates the practice of Nursing in Nigeria this 7 day ultimatum to do the needful which is very simple:

 

. The Office of the Head of Civil Service had written the council to put its put on paper on what the position of the council is on the National Industrial Court judgement of 2012. 

 

This has been on for sometime and we feel that the Nursing council can do this in a day or two that was why the entire Nigerian Nurses have to rise up and make a dignified courtesy vist to the NMC by all the chairment and secretaries of #NANNM in the 36 states plus the specialist groups 2 days ago, and we believe that if the NMC wants to do it right, it is a thing that can be done within 48 hrs. Let us recal that i said "35"years and the question is what have we been waiting for all this while?

 

Q; How long has this been planned because if i hear you correctly, you choose this time the country is having an emergency on Ebola to go on strike? The Doctors just returned from theirs when it was on there were quite a lot of interviews where people including Nurses called their actions as selfish, now the Nurse are going on strike. What do you have to say to that?

A; Nigerian Nurses have paid the supreme sacrifice, we have contributed our quota to the containment of #Ebola, you would recal that as the #NMA was on strike this issue was at its peak and we were there doing all we could as professionals to ensure that the inccident never escalated. Of all the health workers in Nigeria today theres no group that can say they have paid more than we have including the death of two of our colleagues. If you go to any quarantine center you would still meet Nurses first. There has never been any moment we have gone on strike and we do not make provissions for people that would need our services.

 

The 1981 award in question was gotten as a product of our strugles for many years. All we are asking for is achievable by the government even within the period we have been on this, the awards include:

1. Nursing is a profession in Nigeria Sudgeneris subject to no control by any other group or a person except when we insist as a grop.

2. Nurses must be involved in policy formulation, execution and its evaluation. 

3. A nigerian Nurse is a bonafied professional.

4. In all ministries and departments that have to do with health, there must be a role occupied by a Nurse. 

Because of this we had to go to court to seek for the implementation of thse awards. For 2 years we have been patient, then there was an appeal by the Ministry of health which was thrown out in 2013.

 

Q: Youve talked about the rot in the health sector and the fact that a lot has to be done but amid all these criticism and arguements, Nigerians have said the timing is very wrong, couldnt this be shelved till after the Ebola scourge is dealt with?

A: Theres no timing of when this outbreak would be ended, one of the reasons why this issue had not been taken up till now was the fact that Nigerian Nurses have been considering the fate of the poor masses, those who are holding this back have the money to attend private hospitals or undertake medical tourism but the others dont have the means.

 

Q: What concideration is the Nigerian Nurses giving, and you said you wouldnt go on strike without leaving some kind of provisions for skeletal Nursing services, what would this be?

A: Like i said, after the expiration of the ultimatum given to the NMC, the council would meet to decide what next to be done, this would be the first stage. In terms of consideration, I think 35 years of patience is enough. We all know that there is a limit to human endurance, these people are being discriminated against, stagnated even when we had the court order that the scheme of service should come up in February of this year and taken to the National council of establishment, this is already  the month of September. That is why we are warning the NMC to quickly respond to the head of service request for the "Unified scheme of service for Nurses".

 

The characteristics of this scheme comprises straight forward and simple edits, like you said there are various entries into the nursing profession, but there is one regulatory body. You can choose to go to the University for 5yrs and at the end you return to do a professional exam, medicalworldnigeria or to a School of Nursing where you would also sit for a professional exam which would determine if you would be registered and licenced to practice. But what has been done to Nurses here is we are taken as professionals but are given the salaries and career progression chances of sub-officers.

 

Q: But do you think it is possible to sustain the arguement to equate the University level Nurses and those who sturdied at the Schools of Nursing for 3 years?

A: It is not "Do i Think", it is already sustained. This Award has already given the leverage. These same questions you are asking cant be equated to a chartered accountant! For a #Nurse to be registered, you must sit for the professional exam, even if you have a Masters or a PHD if you havent written the professional exam you cant practice. We are only considering the education system in #Nigeria, however there are still differences in what we are asking for from the two; For a university degree holder, when you return with your "RN" you would be in a salary grade level about 4 times that of an "RN" from a School of Nursing and you would continue to rise. If you have all become professionals, the years it would take someone who went to a Sch of Nursing to get to where a degree older would enter the public service would take close to 10 years, and this is the core of the harmonised scheme of service.

 

Q; Why does the trend of those who sturdied in Schs of Nursing want to equate themselves with their countaparts from the Universities begin now?

A; It is the correction of injustice, ab initio that award would put everyone where they belong. It is not a strugle at all, once you leave your school you would still specialise either in the A&E, theater or aneasthetics amongst others. Personally I came in through a School of Nursing, This is not a way to equate but rationalise and make sure everyone is put in the correct scale.

 

Q; We have all heard of the discrimination between doctors and nurses, and don't you think the perceived envy amongst health workers doesnt do the health sector any good?

A; I am a member of #JOHESU (Joint Health Sector Union), and this is what we have been calling for that the issues of health rivalry should be brought to a close. This can be done by ensuring that all individuals should be treated the way they are supposed to following the scheme of service, what the training says you should do and what the curriculum of training certifies you to do. There is no rivalry between #Doctors and #Nurses, but we can ask for our right. I dont see how asking for your right can be called a rivalry! A Nurse is a professional, A lab scientist is a professional, A Doctor is also a professional, and of all professionals in this country it is only Nurses that are been badly treated. A nurse would be asked to start at grade level 8, a pharmacist at 10 and a doctor at 12, theres no rivalry but we have to ask for our right.

 

Some of what been is been called rivalry is the issue of appointment of directors, my scheme of service says if you have been working for a particular period of time you have the prerequisite to be promoted to become a Director of Nursing Services even in the Teaching Hospital. What the doctors are saying is that you cannnot rise to become a director in your own line, in the teaching hospital as a nurse or even a pharmacist or a lab scientist. This is part of what is contained in their 24 point agender agitation that there must not be any director in the teaching hospital...

 

Q: ...Who are not medical doctors?

A; Yes, who are not medical doctors. Everyone has the prerequisit to be a consultant in their own field. A Nurse consultant in Nursing, A Pharmacist Consultant in Pharmacy and so on, but in Nigeria the Medical Doctors are saying that no one else can become a consultant. 

 

Nurses are not rivals to anyone because we all have distinct roles to play in the healthcare sector. Because of what we have in Nigeria we have individuals from one profession are trying to be lord it over others. A nurse is a professional, not many people know that the role of a Nurse is 3 fold: Dependent roles, Interdependent roles and Independent roles. There is also Nursing Diagnostics, where even if a Doctor isnt available based on scientifically sound judgement a Nurse can go on and attend to a patient.

 

Q: On Ebola, so far it has been well contained but is not over yet. If the Nurses do go on strike what type of skeletal services would remain in place?

A: We could put it this way "If the Government still decides to deny the Nurses their rights, what is the Government planning to ensure that this strike does not take place at all! This is very simple, if you take a look at what the government is willing to do as at medicalworldnigeria dot com February this year, there was to be a Nationwide strike but the Fed.Ministry of Health and our Association, the NMC as witnessed by the Federal ministry of Labour and Productivity came together with a step forward and since then it has been a stalemate.

 

Q: And whats the body language of the Federal Government?

A; Right now it is so cloudy and shrouded in mystry, there is supposed to be annother National Council establishment meeting where this issue would be attended to, The NMC supposed  to have according to the NIC judgement had urged the offices of the Head of civil services to do according to  NIC's Judgement as it is obtainable all over the world. In Nigeria the level of production of Nurses has dwindled previously at 30.2% in 2010 but now is at 2.6%, in another 5-10years alot of Nurse would be retiring, the ones on duty and those coming up are not been motivated by giving them their rights because it should be noted that Nurses are pivotal to the #Healthsector.

 

Q: You have spoken a lot on structural inequality and career advancement, a lot of Nigerians would agree with this, historically a lot of Nuns and unskilled health workers did not go to school but were able to deliver services, lets look at what Nigerians want; they are asking can you shelve the strike till after  the Ebola emergency is curtailed, what would you say to them?

A; The answer is simple and stright forward and that is to ask the masses to appeal to the Federal Government to join hands with us to ensure the strike does not take place and the public should recall what i said days ago that at the expiration of the 7 days the council would meet, study the situation before the next line of action would be taken.

 

Q; Are you hopeful of a positive outcome from the Government?

A; Yes we are, this case is very simple and could be settle very quickly.

 

Q; Arguments are that rather than go on strike why dont the Nurses form commitees as seen done by the Doctors when they were on strike:

A; Before the Doctors resumed we were already on ground, and Nigerians would testify that the first week of the outbreak of the Ebola Viral Disease was not as calm as this and at every point in time and level Nigerian Nurses were working. We have Nurses who have died and we have those who are currently incubating this disease, our calling does not allow us to see people and not attend to them, the only thing we are clamorring for is that all Personal Protective Equipments (PPE's)  be made available to Nurses. At our last meeting in Abuja, we urged Nurses to protect themselves if the Government is not providing, but ths is an aberration as the government is supposed to provide.

 

Q; Is the Govenment providing right now?

A; Yes at areas where the cases are prevalent, state governments are also making efforts to provide but i must tell you that in most hospitals today the case is different because those equipments are not enough where and when available.

 

Q: Thank you Nurse Adeniji for joining us here  

A: Thank you.

 

Source:

AIT