Does NANNM really STAND UP, STAND OUT and STAND IN THE GAP for nurses and midwives?

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Kunle Emmanuel
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Does NANNM really STAND UP, STAND OUT and STAND IN THE GAP for nurses and midwives?

Unread post by Kunle Emmanuel »

Stand up, Stand out and Stand in the gap for Nurses/Midwives: A clarion call to NANNM NATIONAL.

The purpose of each trade union is to protect the interest of its members by standing up, Standing out and standing in the gap for its bona fide members. NANNM is no exception.

In return for these services, as an obligation members of such trade union pay a certain amount of money (dues) monthly. Nurses/midwives are no exception as well.

The trade union for Nurses and midwives in Nigeria is the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), upon graduation with RN/RM or BNSc from any approved college of Nursing and Midwifery or university automatically makes a RN/RM a member of NANNM. Those employed in public sector would have 3% of their monthly salary deducted automatically as union dues (Check Off Dues, CODs) and remitted to the NANNM's Bank account.

Over the years nurses express their deepest anger and bitterness over NANNM's nonchalant attitude and insensitivity to their predicament in relation to their welfare, image and professional growth and development.

Nurses are the largest health workforce but why other professionals like pharmacists, Physiotherapists are more noticeable than nurses in the annals of public discourses and transactions?

The way and manner those at the Helm of affairs of the NANNM see these issues is totally different from how nurses see it. This was why nurses at federal institutions and Graduate Nurses have an earnest wish to emancipate themselves from NANNM.

Do NURSES really get value for COD services from NANNM?

Does NANNM really STAND UP, STAND OUT and STAND IN THE GAP for nurses and midwives?
We can only answer these question if we look at 3 cardinal roles NANNM should be playing to protect the interest of nurses and midwives.
1. Standing up for nurses:
Standing up for nurses mean 'Depending nurses against an attack, a challenge or a criticism.

Nursing is the only profession that is mostly being attacked by employers, public and private clinics. Nurses have been denied their birth right. They do not benefit from special consideration given to other professionals. In one of the teaching hospitals that I was trained, For example, Doctors were sponsored by the hospital authority to study neonatology but nurses that had interest to study Neonatology nursing in South Africa were given options to either sponsor themselves through Out-of-their-pocket payment or they forfeit their admissions. Many similar instances happen by the day with regards to promotion, placement and study release and sponsorship.


The way Private hospitals are destroying image of nurses and nursing is heart-aching.


Film industry is not left out in attacking and mispresenting nurses. They always portray nurses as mere doctor's maids and gossipers.

Task Shifting and Task Sharing policy (TS/S) has, also attacked nurses and midwives roles only. Only nurses roles are shared and shifted to other lower cadre of co-workers. No matter the shortages of Pharmacist, MLSs, Radiographers and Physiotherapist you can never find where their services are shared with or shifted to nurses. Rigid professional boundary is one of the features of any profession that answer its name that was why from inception of TS/S policy all other cadres save NURSES fight against it. It is now common knowledge that quackery is much more peculiar within nursing than other professions all in the name of TS/S policy.

2. Standing out for Nurses
Standing out for Nurses mean to be highly noticeable for Nurses.
It is so painful that in spite of their numerosity, nurses are not noticeable.
When it comes to policy making JOHESU (a body of both professionals and non professionals) would represent nurses while Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) would represent Pharmacist. Technically, We have two associations that formed JOHESU; Pharmacists and others (Nurses, health attendants, admins etc).

Apart from ICN programs. Most of the international programs that nurses and midwives are supposed to be the drivers were hijack by other professionals. The attached flier for International Day of the Midwives celebration held in Abuja on 4/5/2021, NANNM National President need to be invited. This is a kinda international platform that would afford NANNM the opportunity for superior networking and also to air our collective views and demands.

If you visit websites of NANNM, PSN, AMLSN, etc you will be disappointed with NANNM. The NANNM website not regularly updated. Our social media handles like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram also dormant in the spaces of new media platforms.
There is no excuse whatsoever that NANNM national leadership must be invited during each national health policy programmes. The new national NANNM Excos must after assumption into office embark on FAMILIARIZATION VISITS to all stakeholders in the health sector like Nigeria's President, Minister of Health, head of Service of the Federation, National Assembly leadership, NHIS boss, NGOs etc to intimate them about NANNM and its activities.

3. Standing in the gap for nurses
Standing in the gap for nurses mean interceding on nurse's behalf.
Unlike Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), NANNM shifts this role to JOHESU to intercede on nurse's behalf. That is why nurses only benefit from government on issues that affect health workers generally. Unlike PSN, NANNM never push for her peculiar needs to government. In contemporary Nigeria's context where survival of the fittest is the norm, you cannot get what you did not fight for. We are witnessing the academic and career achievements pharmacists are getting by the day. If you want be like PSN behaves like PSN.

I came to realized that NANNM has power during its quondam dispute with FHI. I am not FHI member, though. So I want this centripetal power/authority of NANNM to extend centrifugally.
Post reading question: Is NANNM working?
Happy International Nurse's Week 2021.
Thank you for your time,


© Nurse Ismail Nasiru Gwarzo is a Nurse clinician cum Health Economist from Kano, Nigeria.
[email protected] 08023675100 (WhatsApp)
Together We Light Up The Profession one candle at a time.
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Kunle Emmanuel
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Re: Does NANNM really STAND UP, STAND OUT and STAND IN THE GAP for nurses and midwives?

Unread post by Kunle Emmanuel »

Sikpi Linus
Thank you for your write up, I was present in the last NEC meeting and virtually all these were discussed and solutions proffered. You shall start seeing the results in 4weeks time. NANNM is a professional cum trade union and it belongs to all of us nurses. We must all act together with a collective force to ensure the best for us. Recall that the new administration is barely 4months old and we all know what is involved in leadership having a clue from the nursing process, we are assessing, diagnosing, analyzing outcomes, planning, and implementation is just in weeks for all of us to evaluate.
The new NANNM national leadership listens and is ready to take up any salient matter that is brought before it not considering the many intra-professional agitations ranging from mere insults, withdrawal from the association to the persistent reduction of the image of our profession by nurses on media space every hour.
If all nurses on media uses their pages and handles to uphold the standards and image of the profession, nobody will toy with us.
For instance, NOLLYWOOD releases just a scene of movie stereotyping nurses as doctor's slave, sex toy, or aggressive, if the more than 1000 nurses make posts against it and call on the body to withdraw that movie it will be done considering the power and reach of media. That is called self-help. But in such cases you will see most of us calling on the national leadership alone while we are the NANNM, all of us! Let's support the new leadership from now to thrive better and let's Imbibe the character of writing to unit leadership which will forward to state and state to national.
With all of us as nurses, we can collectively solve our professional challenges and promote development.
Ismail Nasiru Gwarzo
Sikpi Linus I pray so. But still I maintained my words "if you want be like PSN then you must behave like PSN"
Is Mr President in this group?
Sikpi Linus
We cannot be like PSN or any other group, we can only a better NANNM and that requires you and I. The president sees everything and notes for necessary action. The media friendliness is coming in full force.
Ismail Nasiru Gwarzo
Sikpi Linus Thank you. About new media platforms kindly visit PSN, NMA, AMLSN's websites/social media handles for you to see how they package a lot of info/resources there. It will help us to do better than them. Who laugh last laugh best
Mahamoud Abdallah
Sikpi Linus thanks you we hope so.
Together We Light Up The Profession one candle at a time.
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