Former Nollywood actress, Regina Askia-Williams, has called on the Government to “invest in the nurses” to achieve efficient healthcare delivery in the country.
Regina, who is now a New York-based liver and kidney transplant nurse made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.
“It is time for government to invest in the nurses in terms of providing a good environment of care, improving their skills, especially training and provision of right equipment,” she said.
She also stressed the need for government to create an enabling environment for good healthcare, beside provision of standard equipment and regular training or capacity building for health workers.
Askia-Williams, a former Miss Nigeria, described the poor state of health facilities in the country as a major factor responsible for the perceived misconduct on the part of some nurses in the nation’s health institutions.
She identified epileptic power supply in most health facilities, unskilled manpower among others, as factors inhibiting efficient healthcare delivery in the country, beside dearth of stethoscope, blood pressure machine among others, for nurses to give their best of services to their patients.
She said requisite skills, knowledge and the environment very conducive for nurses to give their best had made nursing in New York, U.S., very efficient because of the availability of medical facilities to fast-track the healing process of the sick.
Askia-Williams noted that nursing standard was not compromised in New York while the health workers’ welfare was adequate.
“I will like to see a situation where there is dual action on the part of the government to provide an environment that is safe to practise healthcare delivery.
“We have to work on these challenges and attack the root of the problem, like environment of practice.
“You cannot access blood pressure machine, stethoscope, you do not have essential things needed to work with but then you have to attend to 20 patients.
“This is frustrating because you cannot tell if your patient is improving or degenerating, ignorant of where to concentrate your services nor how to access the patients and get a snapshot of his health situation,” she said.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxT77OSLAbU]
