National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Lagos State Council has raised concerns over the continuous shortage of nurses and midwives in the State owned hospitals.
Speaking with Vanguard in an interview, the chairman of NANM, Lagos State Council, Mrs Olatunde Olusola noted that if this development is not addressed as a matter of urgency, it will greatly affect healthcare delivery in the state.
“We form the largest party of the healthcare delivery in the country and that was why in any hospital without nurses and mid-wife, there will be no service; It has portrayed the nurses in the state owned hospitals in bad light.
“More so, the government has increased the number of Primary Healthcare Centres, PHCs and Maternal and Child Healthcare Center, MCC in the state without employing the required number of nurses to deliver the required service.
“Rather than employ, the government will remove nurses from the shortage areas leaving healthcare delivery to suffer. This is actually affecting healthcare delivery in the state. You cannot deliver what you don’t have. If we are operating in a conducive environment then we will be happy render the best service to the patients.
“Not less than 200 experienced nurses from the Lagos State general hospitals will retire this year. And they that cannot be replaced over night,” she added, painting the gloomy picture of the future of healthcare delivery in Lagos if more nurses were not employed.
“We expect the Lagos State government to employ 600 young nurses to replace this huge number that will retire from the state healthcare sector,” she advised.
