The National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives has raised the alarm over mass exodus of Nurses to other parts of the world for greener pasture saying it has caused drastic shortage of Nurses in Nigeria. This drastic shortage has led to workplace hazard, burn out, stress and even untimely death among the few ones serving in the country.

 

The President of NANNM, Abdrafiu Adeniji, raised the alarm in Abuja at a press briefing on Sunday evening in Abuja in commemoration of the International Nurses Week. He predicted that “in about five years time the rate of retirement of Nurses will be so alarming.”

 

According to him, the Federal Government should “specially look into the recruitment of Nurses as a matter of urgency.”

Adeniji also charged government at all levels to improve the attention, recognition and financing of institutions where Nurses are being trained to address the spate at which the schools are losing accreditation.

 

He said, “The rate of migration of Nigeria Nurses within year 2003 and 2005 doubles the rate of supply of Nurses. Within 2007 and 2009, there was a zero rate of growth and today while the rate at which we turn out the Nurses and Midwives was at 2.6 per cent, the rate of Nigeria population growth is 3.2 per cent.

 

“The density of Nurses population ratio is a danger signal. Even the profile of Nurses/Midwives has shown that the majority of Nigerian Nurses in the public service is more to people who have spent 28-30 years in service. The implication of this is that in about five years time the rate of retirement of Nurses will be so alarming.”

 

Adeniji disclosed that as part of deliberate effort to improve the health of Nigerians, NANNM will engage in community outreach while marking the Nurses Week.

 

The free health services to be rendered, he said, will include blood pressure check, eye test and refraction, blood sugar estimation to detect diabetes and test for malaria and provision of treatment.