By Matthew Denis
The Kwara State chapter of National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) has appealed to the state government for recruitment of more nurses and midwives.
The Chairman of the association, Comrade Joseph Adekanye made the appeal during an interview with Pilot Health in Ilorin, on Friday.
He said, “The state government recently launched free malaria campaign in the state and backed it up with funds. The Governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has also donated substantial amount to rid the state of polio.
“But, we want the Governor to look into some critical issues affecting the health sector in the state which is non availability of manpower most espically nurses and midwives to man the facilities on ground.
“For instance when you go to a specialist hospital you will find a nurse managing three wards like the surgical section, medical section and pediatric section. Whereas there is suppose to be two nurses for each of these section on shift basis.
“Our people are being overworked, I am aware of a situation two months ago where three of our members collapsed at the Offa Specialist Hospital as a result of stress.”
He added that the salaries of nurses and midwives in the state are meagre when compared with what their colleagues in other states are receiving.
“And when you look at their take home pay compared to neighbouring states like Oyo, Osun and Niger, it is like we’re just being enslaved here in Kwara. So this implies that even when our nurses are overstressed they have nothing to take care of themselves with.
“We are praying that the Governor will look into the salary structure of health workers with a the aim of an upward review,” he appealed
Adekanye urged the Governor to implement the Consolidated Health Workers Salary Structure (CONHESS) for workers at the Local Government Areas.
He said, ” Presently the state health workers are enjoying the 60 percent CONHESS while their Local Government counterparts are yet to benefit this. When you look at the various states around us, they are already enjoying 100 percent CONHESS while we’re contending with 60 percent.
“The Local Government workers for about 13 months after their counterpart on the state pay roll started receiving 60 percent CONHESS, are yet to benefit despite that they were also involved in the struggle with others for its implementation. It is dehumanizing.
“The government should try as much as possible to add the remaining 40 percent so that the people can be motivated as well as employ more hands into the service because there can’t be holistic care of patients when there’s inadequate manpower.
The Chairman, however, lauded the Governor for his financial support to ensure accreditation of the School of Midwifery by the Nursing Council.
He said “By this magnanimity shown by the Governor, our people will not be going to other states in order to access training in Midwifery and it will be an advantage to Kwara indigenes to acquire the training here and to be absorbed by same government to improve the health sector.”
