Health
Nurse Anaesthetists Urged To Embrace Innovations For Safer Patient Care
By Aderogba George
The National President of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Mr Haruna Mamman, has urged nurse anaesthetists to embrace innovations and global best practices to improve patient safety and healthcare outcomes.
Mamman gave the commendation on Tuesday in Abuja at the 18th National Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigeria Association of Nurse Anaesthetists (NANA), alongside its 9th National Delegates Conference.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference has the theme, “Adoption of Innovations in Anaesthesia to Enhance Patient Safety and Satisfaction”.
Mamman said nurse anaesthetists had continued to uphold global best practices while providing a platform for knowledge sharing, skills development and stronger professional relationships.
He urged participants to apply the knowledge gained at the conference to improve their practice and patient outcomes.
“You are indispensable members of surgical teams. Your vigilance, competence and calmness in critical moments save lives daily,” he said.
Mamman urged nurse anaesthetists to embrace innovations while maintaining the human touch that defines nursing, including empathy, dignity and patient-centred care.
He also stressed the importance of continuing professional development, adherence to best practice standards and unity within the nursing profession.
“As we grow in skill and knowledge, let us also grow in integrity, advocacy and service to humanity,” he said.
Also speaking, Comrade Jama Medan, FCT Chairman of NANNM, said nurse anaesthetists remained essential to surgical services, emergency care, resuscitation, intensive care and the management of critically ill patients nationwide.
He said they provided life-saving services in tertiary and secondary hospitals, as well as underserved communities, often under difficult conditions.
Medan noted that nurse anaesthetists played a crucial role in facilities where physician anaesthetists were unavailable.
“Without adequate anaesthesia personnel, surgical services cannot function effectively; without safe anaesthesia, there can be no safe surgery,” he said.
However, he identified manpower shortages, excessive workloads, prolonged call duties and inadequate professional recognition as major challenges facing the professionals.
He urged governments and healthcare institutions to prioritise the recruitment, training, retention and career advancement of nurse anaesthetists.
Medan also acknowledged NANNM’s role in improving their welfare, especially through negotiations that increased call duty allowance from 1.7 per cent to two per cent.
He said the adjustment represented progress but stressed the need for further improvements.
According to him, ongoing Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations provide an opportunity to address longstanding welfare concerns, with the association seeking a minimum four per cent call duty allowance and appropriate specialist allowances for nurse anaesthetists.
Medan commended the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) for its interest in nurses’ welfare, especially during the ongoing CBA negotiations.
He also welcomed the council’s initiative to develop a curriculum to facilitate the transition of nurse anaesthesia education to university-based postgraduate programmes. (NAN) www.nannews.ng
Edited by Tosin Kolade