Nigerian nurses have been challenged to improve their professional skills in order to use them to help the country to navigate through future health challenges.
The First Lady, Aisha Buhari, gave the challenge on Thursday during the unveiling of the special edition of The Rising Star, a special magazine published by nurses, held at the State House Auditorium in Abuja.
The First Lady, who was the special guest of honour at the occasion and represented by her Senior Special Assistant on Administration and Women Affairs, Dr Rukayyatu Gurin, acknowleded the impressive work being done by the nurses at the state house clinic and challenged them to do more.
“There is no doubt that the current health challenges under the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about numerous challenges that exposed the weaknesses of our health system. Yet despite the challenges, it is glaring that our nurses have demonstrated high level of commitment and resilience in discharging their responsibilities.
“Therefore, as we celebrate the nurses’ achievements this great day and week, I would like to call upon the nurses of the State House Clinic, in particular, to be more committed in providing quality healthcare services.
“While we expect our nurses to work well with colleagues across the globe, I further challenge them to perfect their skills in their profession and to use the experience gained in updating their skills and repositioning themselves towards addressing subsequent emergent health issues, including the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.
“While I associate myself with the achievements recorded so far at the State House Clinic, I still will like to challenge the nurses to do more. I therefore call upon the management to sustain the tempo and to remain more committed to ensuring better effective quality service delivery through collaborative partnership. Once again, I will like to assure the nurses and the management of the State House Clinic of my support”, the First Lady said.
Quality healthcare
Speaking at the event, Chief of Staff to the President and Chairman of the occasion, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, commended the staff of the State House Clinic, particularly the nurses, for the efforts they put into ensuring that the number one and two families get quality healthcare.
According to him, the staff had been professional in their conducts and pointed out that the quality of service being rendered at the clinic has been as a result of the professionalism the staff offer, which has in turn been responsible for the streams of recommendations out in the public.
“I want to thank the entire senior staff of the State House Clinic and that’s why I felt despite my very busy schedule, I have to be here personally to express my support for what the State House Clinic have been doing; for the contributions you are making to the welfare of our principals and their families and also to commend you for this International Nurses’ Week.
“I’ll like to say, nurses are at the fore-front of healthcare delivery in our country because our principals; Mr. President, Mr. Vice President and the senior officials of this country, their welfare is a major part of the welfare of our country. I want to commend you’ Gambari said.
National asset
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, State House, Tijjani Umar, described the State House Clinic as a strategic national asset, which must receive support from everywhere it could be found.
“This simply goes to say that we cannot on our own do everything, we have to reach out, we have to network, we have to get the support of every segment of government. The State House Clinic is a strategic national asset.
“We must draw all resources to build it so that Mr. President and his family, the Vice President and his family, all of us will be happy that there’s a clinic that we can all be proud of”, Umar said.
The event, which was part of the commemoration of this year’s International Nurses’ Week, drew dignitaries from various segments of the society.
Emmanuel Ukoh
