Do student nurses need role models?

[Kunle Emmanuel]

Is it important to have role model for you to become a “good” nurse?

Having a bad role model wasn’t damaging in itself -there were these two nurses one would wanted to be like. One who saw nursing as something she did when she had to in order to pay the bills, or one who had patience, excellent communication skills and an awareness of just how much knowledge nurses need to have in order to keep patients safe. The second became a role model from day one of the placement in the ward, she make us make me explain to patient the purpose of every drug I administered, its side effects and why this drug was likely to have been prescribed and I gained so much more.

So our Christmas competition this year isn’t aimed at rewarding student nurses. This year, we’re rewarding the role models who do more than they probably realise to enhance students’ learning.

We therefore want student nurses to nominate anyone who has gone the extra mile to make them a better nurse.
Post their contribution here on this thread and we would send them a recharge cards for Christmas.

Mention your name

The Name of Nurse you are nominating.

A little description of how she has made you a better nurse.

[Kunle Emmanuel]

I want to share this my experiences with you my fellow professionals;my elder sister is my mentor in this profession Mrs H A Okedo, a retired Director of nursing services Anambra state and presently the secretary of west African college of nursing.

When she was in service,whenever i come visiting , she normally tells me ''philomena go and read you will regret in nursing; I felt it does not matter,until I attended a workshop in 2005 at choice hotel, Awka that was planned by state NANNM ,where, i saw one Dr Mrs Chika Ugochukwu spoke on a topic, i went home determined to do something. The final one that broke the carmels back was another workshop i attended at U. I on infection control and it was an international conference. I saw how those graduate nurses were carrying themselves with dignity. Coming back i stepped out and today, i am telling the young ones to do something and is just the beginning in the profession .

There are polices that govern civil service commission in Nigeria, these can not be changed because we are nurses. Let us be reasonable.

Philomena Ngozi

[ivannaeden]

I think an educator, and in addition any grown-up in a tyke's life, ought to be included. Once in a while as educators we know about circumstances or sentiments that won't not be shown at home.

[Kunle Emmanuel]

Good morning great nurses, great minds, and caring hands, its another day of reflection on moving nursing forward.

Today I will be discussing MENTORSHIP IN NURSING

What is mentorship: Mentorship is a relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. The mentor may be older or younger than the person being mentored, but he or she must have a certain area of expertise.

From the above definition the need for special knowledge is needed before the word mentorship can surface. For nursing to develop there is need for more specialist who will in turn stand in gap to pass a body of knowledge to the upcoming nurses who will become an expert in their field of practice. For us to have mentors in nursing profession the following must be put in place;

1. More specialty is needed to be introduce in the profession and not only to be introduce but also be accredited by NMCN so that there will be diversification in nursing profession.

2. Taking Responsibility by the senior nurses in performing complex tasks in a more precise and concise way in which the mentee will over time pick up, research about it and develop a better way of performing the same task for the upcoming generation.

3. Improved Education is a serious issue which has much land serious slap on the profession, in as much as SONs are the heart of nursing, University degree is a must for the progression of nursing to our dream land because of certain a diploma can never be a mentor to a university graduate(sentiment must be put aside) and all our specialty program should be move to masters level if not residency. Degree program must be encourage among our senior nurses.

4. Ideal equipment: government must be encourage to get in our teaching facilities instruments and or equipments to Forster better knowledge and less of improvisation so that we can fit into the international standard.

5. Upgrading of syllabus and procedure manual is very important as there are many procedures meant for nursing which will bust our morale in practice and put more meaning to nursing

6. The need to lobby and be part of decision making at every strata of government and hospital administration in order to drive down our concern is very important.

Let every nurse knows that the development of nursing is our collective responsibility and we need to shun intimidation both internal and from external force. Until we meet again, mean while aluta continua, Victoria ascertain.

I remain your very own in the struggle Nurse (comrade) Oluala Joshua Tunde(BNSc)

NOTE: All correspondence should be forward to tunjosh2@gmail.com