The School of Midwifery in Niger has commended the board of Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) for recalling 17 refresher course students to re-sit their professional examinations in September 2019.
The Provost, Hajiya Aisha Maikudi, said on Friday in Minna that the gesture would reduce quacks in the nursing and midwifery profession.
Maikudi said the 17 affected students were dismissed for not been able to pass the qualifying professional examination in 2016.
“These ones failed the professional examination three times and they were barred from writing the examination further,” she said.
Maikudi said that the council magnanimously recalled them and gave them one year to undergo a refresher programme and write the professional examination again.
She said that the gesture was aimed at reducing quackery which had bedevilled the profession.
“I commend that decision because it is in the best interest of the profession, if they are registered and licensed we can check them.
“If they are our members we can check them as there will be check and balances in their practices because if they are registered and licensed they will be going for professional updates from time to time.
“If they are not registered they will not bother, they will continue to practice because nobody is checking them hence this review in the policy,” she said.
Maikudi said that her hope was high that the students would all be successful, saying that 12 refresher course students who took the professional examination in 2018 all passed the qualifying examination.
She said that it was necessary for the council to review the policy to reduce imposters and quacks in the profession.
“For them to have acquired that level of training and were dismissed most of them still practice irrespective of not being certified and this is detrimental to the profession, public health and the general public,” she said.
Maikudi explained that the board was conscious of the life of the general public especially the poor because they were the most vulnerable as they were in the habit of patronising quacks.
“We are happy for the refresher students because it is not easy to put an effort for five years and come out with nothing,” she said.
She however advised candidates sitting for the professional examination in September to shun any encumbrances and study hard to pass to justify the rare opportunity.
“We are calling on them to be hard working because it is not going to be given to them free, they must earn it,’’ she said.
A refresher student, Mrs Basirat Idris, appreciated the gesture of the board.
“Personally, I felt depressed, shattered and hopeless, not only for me but virtually all of us here as you can see.
“In earnest, our families celebrated it saying it is worth celebrating.
“But I also want to point out here that some of us died as a result of the shock they suffered from the dismissal,’’ she said.
Idris also said that some of the dismissed students were disappointed by their fiancés, saying they will not have anything to do with a liability as a wife.
“We are appreciative of the board for the rare privilege, the gesture is a welcome development that will help in eliminating quacks and save the vulnerable patients.
“I want to charge governments to employ more nurses in the public sector and also there is need for stakeholders to comb the private hospitals to eliminate quacks,’’ she urged.
