Health Workers Kick As Nigerian Nursing Council Introduces Stringent Conditions For Verification Process, Plan Rally In Abuja

Nigerian nurses and other health workers have kicked against what they described as stringent conditions imposed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) on all applicants seeking verification of certificate(s) to foreign nursing boards or councils.

The Council in a memo dated February 7, 2024, outlined what it called the revised guidelines and requirements to be met by all applicants seeking the verification of certificate(s) to foreign nursing boards/councils.

The memo was sent to the Commissioners/Secretary of Health Services; Chief Medical Directors/ Medical Directors; National President; Directors of Nursing Services; Heads of Department; Provosts & Principals; Coordinators; Zonal Officers; All States Ministry of Health & Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; University Teaching Hospitals/Specialist & Federal Medical Centre and National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, National Headquarters, Abuja.

It was also sent to the Ministries of Health, Hospitals Management Board; All States & Federal Capital Territory; All Universities Offering Nursing Programmes, Colleges of Nursing Sciences; Schools of Nursing & Midwifery; All Post Basic Nursing Programmes; All Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria Zonal Offices.

The Council in the memo signed by its Registrar/CEO, Dr. Faruk Umar Abubakar, said, “Applicants are to visit https://licence.men.gov.ng/ and log in to initiate verification application by clicking on the verification application link.

“A non-refundable fee per application shall be paid for verification to Foreign Boards of Nursing as specified on the portal. This shall cover the cost of courier services to the applicant’s institution(s) of training, place of work and Foreign Board.

“Eligible applicants must have a minimum of two (2) years post qualification experience from the date of issuance of permanent practicing licence. Any application with provisional licence shall be rejected outrightly.

“The Council shall request a letter of Good Standing from the Chief Executive Officer of applicant’s place(s) of work and the last nursing training institution attended and responses on these shall be addressed directly to the Registrar/CEO, Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria. Please note that Council shall not accept such letter(s) through the applicant.

“Applicants must have an active practicing licence with a minimum of six months to expiration date. Applicant must upload Certificate(s) of Registration only. Notification of Registration is not acceptable.

“The applicant shall receive prompt notice via his/her email and dashboard on the status of the verification application.

“Please note: Processing of verification application takes a minimum of six (6) months. All applicants shall ensure that complete requirements are met before initiating verification application as incomplete documentation shall not be processed.

“The implementation of this guideline takes effect from 1st March 2024. All pending verification applications before this revised guideline will be processed accordingly.

“Heads of nursing institutions should take note and bring the content of this circular to Nurses.”

But nurses and other health workers have described the guidelines and requirements as a denial of human rights, stressing that there had never been any occasion where regulatory bodies asked for work experience or mandated years of service as a condition for verification.

Fir instance, a public health nurse, identified as @DTechNurse on X, said, “It is absolutely wrong to attach Nigerian nurses’ verification conditions to Chief Executive Officer who are always Medical Doctors.

“Nurses now await the approval of a medical doctor before they can make progress in their career. This decision has to be reversed.”

Also, @AlongeElijah wrote, “Nonsense!!! This is denial of human right and it shall be informed to @ICNurses @WHO @UNHumanRights. Haven been verified by different nursing body around the world. There has never been an occasion where regulating bodies asked for work experience or mandated years of service.

“LagosNannm @PriscaAdejumo @ANANursingWorld @nannna_org @NNCAUK @ICNurses @NLCHeadquarters @UN_HRC. We crave your indulgence to look into the matter between Nigeria nurses vs @NMC_Nigeria on license verification matters and guide us through appropriate legal proceedings.”

Another health worker, @tana_lifted said, “So me that used to work in a military hospital would have gone to a General, a whole general to write NMCN because I want to relocate. Nahhh, they must be joking.”

@Nursebassey also lamented: “Nurses are not trained nor sponsored by the Government and we’re not the cause of the present economic woes of the nation.

“How will you wake up and decide that Doctors must approve that I am a Nurse before I can practice where I want to practice?”

Another nurse – @NursecoachO said, “At international nursing organisations, before a policy is changed or updated, there will be stakeholders meetings and consultation for agreement, inclusion and fairness. @Nigeria_NMC, you can’t rule over the nurses you are supposed to protect.”

Another nurse who is angry over the new development said, “There’s a reason foreign nurses will train in their country, leave and still credit where they trained, give back to the country… and all that.

“There is a reason many Nigerian nurses leave and you won’t hear peem. THIS BODY IS THAT REASON! The weapon fashioned against nursing.

“What do you mean by a letter of good standing from the CEO? Why must my CEO know I want to leave? If it’s to oppress nurses, you’ll show up. If it’s to stand up for nurses you’ll disappear.

“The time you used to form this bullshit would have been better spent improving the curriculum so everyone can have a uniform and a worldwide acceptable curriculum. Cos there has to be sth in that curriculum that makes Canada look the other way.

“These are just part of issues but no oh… na oppression una sabi. See how we are regressing instead of progressing.”

As the uproar over the verification requirements gets hotter, Nurse Ogochukwu @ogolindalucy announced: “We would be having a walk next week to the NMCN office in Abuja to meet with the Registrar.

“Our reason for this walk is that several persons and organizations have written to them but they have failed to respond so we will now have to take the bull by the horn.”

She said that the purpose of the walk/rally would focus on “Nursing Reform: Improved remuneration for Nurses. We are the bedrock of the hospital but we are the least paid. We need a salary structure for Nurses: private and government hospital should have a salary structure even if that of private nurses will not be the same with those in government hospitals, at least no Nurse should be paid below a certain amount of money.

“Welfare for Nurses: We should have a welfare or committee responsible for making sure no nurse is victimized or abused. In a situation of assault as we have seen in many cases there should be a body speaking on behalf of the nurse. There should be a body where a nurse can report to get justice.

“Reinstate the verification portal: There are so many reasons why one needs verification not just for migration purposes, it is also needed for educational purposes.

“We are members of a professional body, we renew our license every 3 years so an official memo should be sent out before removing the portal from the website.

“You owe communication and transparency to your members. So, we demand an explanation as to why the verification portal was removed from the website and when it will be reinstated.

“End Quackery: The reason why our profession is not respected is because quacks have hijacked our profession, so employers pay us peanuts and people treat us anyhow. These days you cannot differentiate a quack from a Registered Nurse because they have infiltrated our profession.

“These are the reasons why we would rally in NMCN office come next week.

“We need a change in this our profession in Nigeria. Now we cannot just do this alone we need to be United and for those in the diaspora we need your support and assistance. We should not be scared as we are only seeking for our rights and not fighting.”(SaharaReporters)