Governments at all levels have been urged to prioritise nurses in health sector reforms, with a focus on advancing nursing education and creating safer, more supportive work environments.
Registrar/CEO of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, Alhassan Ndagi, made the call on Monday at an event held to mark the 2025 International Nurses Week and the unveiling of the Seventh Edition of the State House Nurses Magazine, organised by the Nursing Department of the State House Medical Centre on Monday in Abuja.
Ndagi also called on governments at all levels to invest more in nursing education, infrastructure, welfare and a conducive work environment to create a more productive workforce.
He added that nurses are central to employees’ health by managing work-related health issues, conducting health surveillance and responding to emergencies.
Ndagi stressed that supporting nurses’ wellbeing is a sure path to improved patient safety, lower rates of medical error, increased productivity, and occupational retention.
Addressing the audience as the keynote speaker at the event, the registrar noted that the 2025 theme, Our Nurses Our Future: Caring for Nurses, Strengthens Economies, shifts focus to the health and well-being of nurses.
He underscored the critical role a healthy nursing workforce plays in strengthening economies and improving health systems.
According to the Registrar, “the day honours the nursing profession and serves as a global platform to recognise nurses’ contributions while raising awareness about the critical challenges they face, such as workforce shortages, mental health strain, and inadequate support systems.
“This theme provides an opportunity to bring actionable solutions to support nurses in their daily work and improve their long-term health.”
Advocating for the creation of safer, more supportive and positive work environments, the registrar highlighted the need to foster high-performing cultures, ultimately ensuring improved access to quality patient care.
Chairman of the occasion, Engr. Arthur Eze, represented by Brig. Gen. I.U. Babangida (rtd) eulogised nurses for their compassion and dedication to work despite some inconveniences. He called on governments at all levels to ensure that nurses were accorded their due respect and well-being so that “we do not lose such an experienced and resilient workforce to other nations.”
In her welcome address, the Head of Nursing Department, State House Medical Centre, Nurse Taiwo Thompson-Olatigbe, stated that this year’s theme reiterated the critical roles nurses play in healthcare delivery and the national economy.
Thompson-Olatigbe added that nurses are the backbone and fulcrum of efficient healthcare delivery.
According to her, “We are facing economic, health and societal pressures like never before, and at the heart of these challenges and solutions, nurses are there, ever sacrificial. We are the ones who show up every day in the clinics, on night shifts, in the wards, on the frontlines, in rural communities, in emergencies and in quiet moments of care.”
She stressed that despite nurses’ responsibilities of bearing physical, emotional and mental healthcare systems, the nurses embrace all challenges that come with the task with grace, strength and resilience.
She called for deliberate investment in the welfare of nurses, adding that caring for nurses is not charity but a strategy.
Let’s be clear: caring for nurses is not an act of generosity; it is a sound economic strategy.”
She called on the management of the State House to consider the need to prioritise the training and manpower development of nurses in the Centre, stating that they engage in self-development.
Unveiling the magazine, His Royal Highness, Etsu Kwali, Luka Ayedoo Nizassan III, commended the organisers for bringing the need to advance the cause of nurses to the fore, highlighting the correlation between caring for nurses and strengthening the nation’s economy.
The royal father stated that “only a healthy and emotionally stable nurse would attend to the physical and emotional needs of a patient, who would in turn be productive and grow the economy.”
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Dr Keshinro Maryam; Chief Physician to the President, Dr Ade Tinubu; Director of Nurses, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Development, Dame Francisca Okafor; President of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, among others, delivered goodwill messages.
International Nurses Day (IND) is celebrated annually on May 12, marking the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, globally regarded as the founder of modern nursing. She died on August 13, 1990.
The week-long commemoration includes paper presentations on various health and developmental issues as well as scientific and interactive sessions.