There is no doubt that nurses are
well trained to perform many roles
and if given the opportunity they
can comfortably perform those
roles that obnoxious policies
presently deny them from
performing.
In Nigeria, nurses in
various specialties such as general
nursing, psychiatry, midwifery,
anaesthesia, ophthalmic, accident
and emergency, intensive care etc
are performing greatly in their
chosen specialties.
Contrary to the
impression being created
about nurses, the fact remains that
others are receiving accolades for
jobs performed by nurses, for
instance the nurse-anaesthetists
attend to about 80% of surgical
patients in some hospitals but who
takes the glory and recognition for
the job done? Even when nurse-
anaesthetists are paired with others
on call-duty, the nurse should be
rest assured that she will work
alone because the other would not
come.
Too busy to comply with call
duty! Go to the Primary Health
Centres; the nurses are all-in-all.
It has been established that many
doctors at one time or the other
have employed nurses especially
the male nurses to consult for them
in their private hospitals until
recently when nurses are been
discouraged by their nurse leaders
from accepting such functions
again, as it amounts to cheap
labour.
A closer look at the course
curriculum of undergraduates of our
universities shows that nursing,
medicine, pharmacy and
physiotherapy students attend
same classes at 100L, 200L, before
concentration on core clinical
courses in different departments. It
is evident that nurses are well
trained in all medical and surgical
conditions as well as
pharmacology.
What a nurse does in any health
facility is only limited by the policy
of such health institution. For
instance if you want a nurse to wait
endlessly to get intravenous fluid
put in place instead of allowing the
nurse to carry-out the
venipuncture, its your choice! If
there is haemorrhage as a result of
deep laceration and you want the
nurse to wait endlessly rather than
allowing the nurse to suture and
prevent further blood loss, thats
also your choice! But let it be
known that the nurse is a big asset
that is grossly under-utilized due to
the selfish reasons of a few.
What is happening globally now is
role expansion for nurses and every
profession requires the services of
consultants; nurse- consultants are
needed to ensure that nurses are
rendering care based on current
best evidences. This is indeed in
the best interest of the patients.
To insist that a PhD holder or a
professor in his/her chosen
profession cannot serve as a
consultant in that field is both
absurd and appalling! Such an act
is capable of ridiculing our
educational system.
The Healthcare team is a cyclical
structure with the patient at the
centre, it is neither horizontal nor
vertical. Every profession is
important and the need to work
collectively in the best interest of
the patients cannot be over-
emphasized. These days a whole
lot of patients are well informed
about their health issues and needs
and are ready to take actions
beneficial to themselves, this
means that no health professional
can assume sole custody of
knowledge any longer.
By Nurse Olurotimi Awojide
