Auxiliary Nurses: Distinguishing Between Professionals and Quacks, By Oluwaseun Abosede
Arguably, the most popular career aspiration for kids, particularly girls, while growing up is to become a Doctor or Nurse, as studies of about 1,000 children have revealed.
I remember how we used to hold nurses in high esteem while growing up – their sparkling white uniforms and stethoscopes around their necks to listen to the sounds generated by our internal organs. That used to thrill me most as a child. However, those days seem to be gone. Seeing nurses around nowadays is becoming increasingly rare. I can’t recall when I last saw one in uniform outside the four walls of a hospital. In hospitals these days, those we think are nurses may not be, depending on the standard of the hospital; they are either quacks or auxiliary nurses. This has seriously undermined the credibility of the profession in the minds of unsuspecting people who can’t distinguish between an auxiliary and a certified nurse.
Ideally, an auxiliary nurse is to assist qualified nursing practitioners in administering care to patients. They are often referred to as health assistants but possess scientific knowledge that does not meet the standards of professional nurses. In advanced countries, such as the UK, auxiliary nurses are employed through the National Health Service (NHS) or registered private healthcare institutions. In Nigeria’s case, especially in 1984, the government embraced the auxiliary nurse culture through The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) as a solution to mass unemployment. However, this culture has since been abandoned, as the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) has declared that you are either a nurse or midwife registered under it or you are a quack. Quackery is a crime in Nigeria’s healthcare system, as stated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria. Ironically, at least 8 out of 11 health facilities in Nigeria today have replaced their nurses with auxiliary nurses or are involved in quackery.
The question arises: where do these auxiliary nurses come from? Professor Mary Mgbekem of the Department of Nursing Science at the University of Calabar, Cross River State, provides insight. She states, “They are being trained by doctors who use them as nurses instead of nurse’s assistants. Some of them are errand girls for the doctors, and at the end of the day, they are issued certificates to assume the position of nurses in their privately-owned hospitals.” They are deceived into believing that practical experience is better than formal education. Unfortunately, after a few years, these quacks proclaim themselves as auxiliary nurses who tragically endanger lives due to their incomplete knowledge. I lost a friend to an auxiliary nurse this year in Lagos. Our beloved Senator Isiaka ADETUNJI ADELEKE, the first Governor of Osun, also lost his life at the hands of an auxiliary nurse. The Nigeria Police reported the loss of ILERIOLUWA OLADIMEJI ALOBA, known as “MOHBAD,” to the same situation.
It is important to note that auxiliary nurses receive basic training, but that is not sufficient for prescribing injections or administering them. The next time you are in need of a nurse or find yourself in a hospital, be mindful that your supposed nurse might be a quack or an auxiliary at best. It is a misconception that everyone in a white uniform is a nurse; let us stop making that assumption. Unfortunately, there is now a very thin line between professionally certified nurses and auxiliaries in those private hospitals that have taken over government health centers.
The “Japa syndrome” is not helping us. The NANNM President stated that 75,000 nurses have left Nigeria within the last five years. Nature abhors a vacuum. If there are not enough nurses in the country, healthcare practitioners will seek alternatives – quite unfortunately.
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not represent the opinions or views of Osun Defender
Comrade ABOSEDE OLUWASEUN “Safety” , is a Unionist, a right activist and a Social Crusader.
