Nurses abandon Cross River hospitals over poor renumeration, 93 in 1,011 health facilities

The departure of nurses has affected the Government of the State of Cross River, since the State has 93 nurses working in 1,016 health centers in the eighteen areas of the local state government.

Latest Nageria newspaper report that The results of the daily publication revealed that nurses in the state gave up the Teaching Hospital of the University of Calabar and the referral hospital of the Nigerian Navy in Calabar for overpayment.

In confirming the report, the president of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Comrade Ojong Ogar, who lamented the situation, admitted that there was a brain drain in the State.

Comrade Ogar, who was talking to our journalist in Calabar, said: “When we got on board, we had this salary structure that the former governor, Liyel Imoke, approved 70% of the consolidated health salary structure (CONHESS) for nurses of the state of Cross River, so far, the balance of 30% has not been given.

“Because of this, many nurses are leaving the state for greener pastures. When you go to the university hospital, they are paid 100% and if you go to other states, the nurses are paid 100%, but in Cross River State, the nurses are still charging 70% of CONHESS and, therefore, withholding Nurses in this state is difficult.

“The saddest moment of NANNM is the shortage of labor, there is a great shortage of labor in the state. While I speak to you, we have about 93 nurses that cover the 18 local government areas with approximately 1,016 health centers.

“We are talking about Ayade Care, how do you expect 93 nurses to perform quality nursing care for our people? In this sense, we are also appealing to the government to investigate this, hire more nurses in health centers.

“While I talk with you, you will very soon discover that most of the rooms (women and men) in the health facilities will collapse and the male and female patients will remain in a room because we lack staff to care for patients. separately.

“We are also appealing to the government because nurses retire at the age of greatest age: during our training, we spent 3 years in training and this period was counted in our years of service, causing nurses to retire at the age of 32 Instead of 35 years we are supposed to retire.

“This is causing a great shortage of labor, so we are asking the government to grant an exemption to these three years of training that are counted for the service of nurses. This will make them stay longer, while the government will also see how far they can employ more nurses, ”said the president.

He also said, “It will also help those who are lagging behind to be mentors of the young people who come, because for me, if a nurse retires at the age of 32 and he returns and hires, he will charge pension and contract, That is not wise enough for the government.

“But, if you eliminate three years of service, you keep it there and the government will pay the salary, which is a recognition for the government. I think the government should be able to investigate this and give us a hesitation or an extension of these three years to the nurses of the State of Cross River.

“According to the World Health Organization (WHO) standard, we need a nurse for 3-4 patients, but since I am talking to you, if you go to general hospitals on duty, you will see a nurse on duty taking care of about 20 patients which is against the WHO standard, “he said.