In the aftermath of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak,nurses in private and public hospitals are wary of patients.Their umbrella bodies are asking the Federal and state governments to provide adequate materials, such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), for them, report OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA and WALE ADEPOJU.
NurseS, who are important in the care industry are gradually losing their steam.
The practitioners are becoming complacent in giving their best for fear of contracting Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), a disease brought to Nigeria by a Liberian-American, Mr Patrick Sawyer, on July 20.
Nurses are breaking the silence by demanding a better health care system- preventing vulnerability in nursing care.
President, National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Mr Abdulrafiu Adeniji, said the government was slack in providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and insurance coverage for nurses.
According to him, the government concentrates more on doctors whereas more nurses have died from EVD than other healthcare workers in the sector.
He decried lack of PPE in most hospitals, adding that nurses need to be protected against the infectious disease.
“By our ethics, we cannot say we would not attend to patients but we must do so with the right equipment and facilities. The government should enroll all nurses on life insurance coverage because of the hazard of their job, so as to encourage them to perform creditably. Life insurance coverage will motivate nurses to go the extra mile on their job.”
Adeniji said the fight against Ebola should be collective and not restricted to health workers alone. He said:“We can only do our best when they bring them to hospitals for treatment. Everybody has a responsibility to discharge in the fight against Ebola.”
President, Association of General Private Nursing Practitioners (AGPNP), Mr Olusola Oyebode said equipping nurses with PPE in private hospitals is a problem.
He said the government had not been proactive to ensure PPE are available in the private sector facilities.
Oyebode said he spoke with the officials of the Ministry of Health, adding that no positive response has been received from them on the availability of PPEs for the private sector.
He said prevention is the best way to prevent contracting the disease,adding that victims of ill equipped facilities are nurses.
This, he said, was why NANNM urged its members to treat patients with high index of suspicion with utmost caution. “We are using barrier nursing to ward off infectious diseases. But getting PPEs is a problem in private sector. To this end, nurses have disposable wears, which is quite expensive and it cannot be compared with standard PPEs. Use of Infrared temperature equipment, which can be used to detect an infected person from a distance, is not available as well,” he said.
Oyebode charged nurses to take extra precaution to be safe from Ebola.
Chairman, Lagos State Branch of NANNM, Mrs Olatunde Omisola, thanked the Lagos State government for making PPEs available to nurses and other healthcare professionals managing cases of Ebola at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH), Yaba.
She said the equipment were in abundance at the facility, which is designated to treat Ebola cases.
Mrs Omisola said if a nurse needs to render three procedures, there are PPEs for him or her to use. “Nurses have been attending to patients at IDH, many of the patients have been discharged but not a single nurse has contracted the disease, since the unfortunate incident with Mr Sawyer ,” she said.
She said the treatment centre at the IDH is well-coordinated, adding: “When a nurse enters through a door, she gets out through another, so as not to leave any room for errors. Nurses on their own, she said, are taking precautionary measures, because they are not ignorant. We have gone beyond the knowledge we have before to acquire new skills to make our job easier.”
Mrs Omisola said the association had not relented to ensure its members are adequately protected. “The most important strategy we employ is creating awareness,” she said.
