Nurse Lawrence Oyeniyi, the Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives Council of Nigeria(NANNM), Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), Chapter, has confirmed that they are joining the seven-day nationwide strike.
Oyeniyi made this known during an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday in Ile-Ife.
He explained that the nursing profession is a discipline that cares for the sick, preventing illness, promoting healthcare services, rehabilitation of the sick, and providing palliative care where cure is impossible, among others.
According to him, Nurses do not strike hunger because they value lives and take good care of human beings like themselves, for they are human too.
The Chairman of NANNM condemned the lackadaisical attitude of the Federal Government towards their care in terms of remuneration, salary package, recruitment of staff, and other allowances requested for years.
"Nurses are the largest workforce in the health sector, always at the forefront, putting our lives on the line, but our welfare is always neglected by the government, for they always abandon us.
"Upward of Nurses allowances, the government has not done much in that area, transport allowance needs to be increased, shortage of nurses all over the general hospitals across the country, in which OAUTHC is not excluded.
"The last recruitment at OAUTHC was in 2022; a few nurses attended to a large number of patients at a time, which affects the healthcare services of many.
"The nurses are sidelined in health decision making, which is affecting overall quality healthcare services; equipment and consumables are not available at the hospitals". Oyeniyi explained.
Oyeniyi maintained that they've given the Federal Government a 15-day ultimatum, but are not ready to reconcile with nurses, and failure to do the needful will lead to an indefinite strike.
The Chairman stressed that the strike is all about nurses demanding their rights, and the Federal Government should be held responsible for any adverse effects on patients.
We appealed to the Federal government to look at the demands critically and approve what's due to them, which should make life comfortable for nurses who they took deserved care.
The Chairman emphasised that they too pay for health, education, and other bills, so Federal Government should provide basic amenities that'll make working environments and lives comfortable.
One of the patients at the Orthopedic male ward that spoke with NAN, Mr Taiwo Adesanmi, groaned about the present situation of healthcare services across the country.
Adesanmi said that because our leaders are capable of patronising private and foreign hospitals make they neglect their duties of care for the masses.
He appealed to the Federal Government to have mercy on the citizenry that cannot afford a private hospital bill by expediting the demands of nurses on time for them to resume without delay.
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