Quack Nurses Disguise In Enugu Hospitals To Avoid Sanction
The state government had last Wednesday sealed some health facilities during a two-day monitoring exercise conducted by the expanded joint inspectorate of the State Ministry of Health, in collaboration with regulatory bodies and medical health associations in Enugu.
Most quack nurses working in some private hospitals in Enugu now disguise themselves as administrative workers to avoid being caught by the monitoring team of the state Ministry of Health.
Some hospitals are alleged to be recruiting prospective nurses for training, after which they employ them as auxiliary nurses, with some of them assuming full roles of professional nurses without the requisite education or certification.
The Director of Medical Services at the Enugu State Ministry of Health, Dr Sam Egwuonwu, had, during the exercise, said the goal was to sanitise the health sector in the state. More than six private hospitals and health institutions were sealed during the raid because of varying defaults, including expired licences and lack of registration.
The Nigeria Medical Association, Medical and Dental Council, Midwifery and Laboratory Councils, and Association of Nurses and Pharmacists in Enugu participated in the exercise.
Investigations by THE WHISTLER on Wednesday, however, showed some clandestine approaches in retaining the services of such unqualified nurses in some private hospitals.
“We don’t always wear uniforms since the monitoring team started their checks,” a nurse, identified as Benedicta, told this reporter in Enugu. “The authorities want only certified nurses to be working in hospitals. But not all hospitals can afford the services of professional nurses. Some of us who were trained in hospitals, without going to nursing schools, still work, but are not as open as before. We have the experience, but not the qualifications.”
Edith also claims to be a nurse with over twenty years’ experience. According to her, “I learnt nursing in Lagos. I didn’t attend a nursing school. By experience, I can challenge any professional. I, however, agree that all nurses should be properly trained and regulated. My daughter is a professional nurse. I trained her because of my love for the profession.”
During the raid, an official of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, Enugu Chapter, Comrade Innocent Ejike, had said that the task of the body was to ensure that hospitals engaged the services of registered nurses with practising licences, adding that, “Any hospital found operating without nurses, doctors, or a medical laboratory would be sealed.”
A visit to some of the hospitals showed that few professional nurses work during the day and dress in uniforms, while the trainees wear muftis, with a majority of them deployed to night duties.
Quack Nurses Disguise In Enugu Hospitals To Avoid Sanction is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
