Nursing Council tasks foreign-trained graduates on quality care, ethics

The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria has enjoined newly inducted graduates of nursing science from foreign universities to provide quality care for patients, and shun all forms of unethical practices. The acting registrar of the council, Ndagi Alhassan, gave the advice yesterday during the council’s 13th induction ceremony for 179 foreign-trained nurses in Abuja. […]

The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria has enjoined newly inducted graduates of nursing science from foreign universities to provide quality care for patients, and shun all forms of unethical practices.

The acting registrar of the council, Ndagi Alhassan, gave the advice yesterday during the council’s 13th induction ceremony for 179 foreign-trained nurses in Abuja.

He said the inductees had passed the November 2024 professional examination for general nurses.

He said, “The whole essence of induction is to admit them into the register of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, which empowers them to practice as nurses in the country.

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“The essence of nursing is to promote health, prevent illness and alleviate suffering or help a patient die a peaceful death. And that is what we expect them to go into the field to practice in caring for the patient.”

Ndagi said the inductees should consider each patient as a unique individual with his or her own rights and desires, adding, “In rendering nursing services, they should not go on to violate the rights of the patients.”

He advised nurses practicing in the country to be good ambassadors of the profession, and “remain upright, be dedicated and committed to the service of their patients.”

He also said the council has accredited more training institutions of nursing in the country, adding that has led to an increased number of trained nurses and mitigated the impact of the high rate of the japa syndrome on the health system.

He said, “Based on the recurrent accreditation process that we have taken to training institutions, they are building capacities, both in human and material resources, to the extent that it has enabled them to get additional approval for increased student intake.

“This has increased the number of nurses that graduate from the institutions on annual basis. And they are able to serve the country and the globe.”

The Director of Nursing Services of the Federal Ministry of Health, Francisca Okafor, congratulated the inductees for passing the examination and also enjoined them to practice the profession with compassion and care.

The best-graduating inductee, Samuel Taiwo Deborah, urged her colleagues not to relent with continuous professional training and learning as they go into practice.

Muhammed Baba, zonal manager, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Minna, and a parent of one of the inductees, said he was happy to successfully train his daughter abroad despite its capital intensiveness.

He added that despite the high prospects of her practising abroad, he wants her to practice in Nigeria and contribute what she learnt from Morocco where she trained to the health system of Nigeria.

Muhammed Balkisu Baba, an inductee, said she is excited to start practicing nursing in Nigeria, and also enjoined foreign-trained nurses to keep working hard.