By Margaret Akolo

Participants at a two-day refresher course for nurses held in Lafia Nasarawa state, have advocated for a disciplinary tribunal to ensure nursing and midwifery practice is in line with the ethics of the profession.

This call was contained in a 12-point communiqué issued at the end of the refresher course with the theme "the role of the nurses in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)."

The participants said the proposed tribunal should be made "active and functional" so as to punish wrong doers and identify quacks in the profession.

They also said doing this would regain the confidence of the general public in the nursing profession.

They also said there was an urgent need to commence "SERVICOM" in hospitals with an impetus to quality assurance in nursing in the state, and that nursing audit units should be constituted to evaluate care given and also to quantify work done by nursing staff through the regular use of nursing care plan in line with Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) number 4.

Other participants further recommended a full training of integrated management of childhood illnesses to health care providers.

According to the participants, all the free medical care provided in the state should be extended to local government levels and that Nurses Association (NANNM) should articulate strategies to reward nurses who have excelled in their area of nursing practice.

They similarly appealed to government to sanitize and enforce the monthly environmental sanitation and provide free insecticide treated nets (ITN) to communities in order to help reduce malaria fever.

The participants also urged government to make prompt payment of retirees’ benefits (pension and gratuity) in order to forestall hardship of retirees. They also appealed to government to as a matter of urgency introduce the new contributory pension scheme in the state, and to hasten the construction of a general hospital in the state capital to reduce the work load on Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH), Lafia.

In order to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) number 4 and 5, participants appealed to Nasarawa State Government to reverse its policy on the posting of health workers to only their local government areas so that there can be even distribution of nurses/midwives to all the local government areas.

The two-week course was earlier declared open by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Alhaji Musa Gangana.

The permanent secretary had said that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was aimed at bringing about structural change in the process of productions and distribution of goods and services in the national and global economy.

He urged nurses to equip themselves intellectually to face the challenges posed by globalization so as to be able to deliver quality, diligent, painstaking and special services to the people.; hence the need for the "Nurses refresher course".

The permanent secretary said the refresher course was one step aimed at achieving this. He assured the participants that the ministry would leave no stone unturned in its efforts at developing skilled manpower in the health sector, and also appealed to the participants to utilize the knowledge and experience they would acquire after they return to their work places.

In his address at the opening, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) Hospital Management Board Dr. Thomas Affi said, the theme of the nurses refresher course "The role of the nurses in Millennium Development Goals was high quintessential in this globalization era of structural reforms in services delivery of national life."

He said the refresher course attached great premium to continuing education, knowledge driven and was capable of making meaningful impact in the lives of the people.

He also said the course was timely coming at a time when it was widely perceived that the quality of nursing and other health care service rendered to clients nationwide was deplorable.