The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria on Wednesday inducted 21 graduates of Nursing Science at the Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, into the nursing profession.

The institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, said the university would continue to partner with the council to steady the ship of the nursing profession and healthcare delivery in Nigeria.

“There is no gainsaying in the fact that nurses play pivotal roles in the overall healthcare delivery system of any nation. The dedication to patient care, compassion and the value they bring to the community cannot be over-emphasised. In spite of this, our hospitals are currently witnessing the dearth of qualified nurses who are leaving the shores of Nigeria in drones due to ‘japa syndrome’. It is on record that over 75,000 nurses have left the country in the last five years, which poses an obvious threat to the healthcare system in Nigeria,” he said.

The vice-chancellor, however, advised the inductees to be open to life-long learning if they were to remain relevant in the profession.

Performing the oath-taking on the graduates, Registrar of the NMCN, Dr Faruk Abubakar, urged the new nurses to take their internship seriously and be open to new learning.

Mr Abubakar, represented by a deputy director in the council, Mrs Agatha Chigbo, advised them to steer clear of avoidable mistakes due to the nature of the profession.

He encouraged them to explore available opportunities and acquire higher degrees in nursing sciences, without infringing on the ethical standards of the profession.

Delivering the induction lecture, Prof. Fidelis Okafor of the University of Benin, advocated clinical application of genetic and genomic knowledge in nursing to enhance the quality practice.

Mr Okafor, who said genetic and genomic science was redefining the understanding of the continuum of human health and illness, said its recognition was a central science for health professional knowledge.

“All diseases and conditions have a genetic or genomie origin; options for care for all persons will increasingly include genetic and genomic information.

“This is along the pathways of prevention, screening, diagnostics, prognostics, selection of treatment, and monitoring of treatment effectiveness. Genetics is the study of individual genes while genomics is the study of all the genes in the human genome together, including their interactions with each other, the environment, and other psychosocial and cultural factors.” 

(NAN)