The Deputy National President of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses And Midwives Abubakar Shehu, expressed excitement to the decision of the House to the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, to suspend its plan to commence the implementation the revised guidelines on March 1, 2024.
According to The PUNCH, this followed the intervention of the House of Representatives which called on the council to suspend its plan to commence the implementation of the revised guidelines on March 1, 2024.
The intervention by the lawmakers followed a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by the member representing Ikorodu Ekpene/Essien Udim/Obot/Akara Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State, Mr Patrick Umoh.
Abubakar said “We are excited about the decision of the House of Representatives. We engaged the Registrar of the council yesterday (Monday) and even before yesterday, the President and General Secretary of NANNM interfaced with him, and suggested a larger house meeting which we did yesterday, and we told him our position; we told him we were not happy with the circular.
“Secondly, we are a major stakeholder in the game and we need to put our heads together. We have a lot of nurses in the labour market, and the government is not employing these people. So they (nurses) have to look for alternative and that is why they are moving out of the country.
“So, we are happy that the House of Assembly made the decision,” he said.
The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, urged the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria not to implement its revised guidelines for issuing verification certificates to nurses and midwives in the country.
Nurses and midwives, under the aegis of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, had expressed concern that the NMCN’s revised guidelines for certificate verification was targeted at preventing them from going abroad in search of greener pastures.
