The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria says efforts are being made to curtail the ongoing emigration of nurses abroad, as Nigeria ranks seventh among 57 countries facing a critical shortage of health workers.
The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the council, Dr Faruk Abubakar, disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday at the 2023 Annual General Meeting/Scientific Conference of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, Federal Capital Territory chapter.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the conference had the theme, ‘Our Nurses, Our Future”.
Abubakar, who was the guest of honour at the event, submitted that: “To curtail the situation (nurses emigration), recruitment of more nurses is needed. If the government can provide the necessary facilities, welfare, adequate insurance for the nurses, better working environment, brain drain will be a thing of the past.
“Government should invest more in the training of nurses; the government should take appropriate measures in tackling all the challenges.”
The immediate-past President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, said the government must look into workers’ salaries, particularly with the removal of fuel subsidy.
The acting Dean, Faculty of Nursing and Allied Health Science, University of Abuja, Mrs Khadijat-Toyin Musah, who was the keynote speaker, said that there was a need to look into nursing education to bridge the gap between knowledge and practice.
“We must go beyond theories. There is a disconnect between what we learn in school and what we are practising in the field,” she said.
