By Kemi Olatunde

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Nursing is a health care profession that involves caring for the sick. Those who get involved in this profession are called nurses. Nurses play critical roles in delivering health care to the people, as they advocate for health promotion, educate patients and, by extension, the public on illness prevention, provide care and assist in cure, rehabilitation and provide support.

According to a writeup titled “nursing in today ‘society” on one of the social media platforms, nurses help families learn to become healthy by helping them understand the range of emotional, physical, mental and cultural experiences they encounter during health and illness. Nurses help people and their families cope with illness, deal with it, and if necessary live with it, so that other parts of their lives can continue.

It further states that “nurses do more than care for individuals. They have always have been at the forefront of change in health care and public health.

“Nurses provide ongoing assessment of people’s health. Their round-the-clock presence, observation skills, and vigilance allow doctors to make better diagnoses and propose better treatments. Many lives have been saved because an attentive nurse picked up early warning signs of an upcoming crisis like cardiac arrest or respiratory failure.”

Having said much about nurses, for many people who have had encounters with them at different times, they seem to have a separate view, especially about the attitude of nurses.

No matter how disciplined they are expected to be at their duty posts, there are some bad eggs who have made it possible for most patients to tag them uncultured. Those who work in government facilities are the worse hit, as most of the time they do not take things easy with their patients.

The Hope visited some health facilities and spoke with some patients who gave their views on the attitudes of nurses.

Mrs. Bolatito Osho is a pregnant woman who spoke with  The Hope at a private health facility and asked about the treatment received from the nurses.

She said that those at the private hospital were caring to a fault, noting that they upheld the ethics of the profession in relating with patients.

Her words; “This is not my first pregnancy but this is the first time I am patronising a private hospital for delivery. The treatment I received from the nurses in government facilities in the past didn’t go down well with me, and that was why I opted for a private hospital.

“The nurses in the government hospitals were insultive and there was nothing I did that was right before them. When I wanted to deliver my last baby which was in a government hospital, they were just too mean on me, in fact, to all of us who were there. I guess that those who exhibit this kind of behavior are ill-mannered and heartless. Someone with a good moral upbringing will not be disrespectful to an elder just because she is in a white uniform. I think it is high time government put their attitude to check.”

Mrs. Ebun Adeolu, a patient in one of the government facilities, said that she had mixed feelings on the issue, noting that people cannot be the same.

“I patronise government hospitals in accessing care alongside my family and the attitude of nurses varries; some of them are coolheaded while others are the opposite. Also, their reaction to patients depends on their mood at that particular time. What I do most of the time is to observe their mood and strictly follow their instructions, to avoid conflict between us. We all have blood flowing in our veins, hence the need to respect our boundaries.”

A father of a newly born baby, Mr Ajayi, lamented about the attitude of some nurses, noting that his wife did not receive a satisfactory treatment from the hospital where she delivered her baby.

He explained that some nurses are self centered and selfish, adding that the list of baby items given to them was enormous.

“Most of the items bought were not used by either the baby or my wife. They collected those things and shared most of them with one another. Those who cannot afford these items are lambasted, forgetting the fact that all fingers are not equal.”

He advised that they exemplify the fear of God in their service delivery to people.

A business woman, Mrs. Jumoke Adeyemo, while commenting said that her encounter with them forced her to embrace the use of traditional medicine.

She said; “I had encounters with the evil ones among them. In fact, they are more than wicked. Doctors are better than them in all aspects. The female nurses most times are not compassionate. They care less even when their patients don’t get the best medical attention.”

On the contrary, a nurse in one of the government facilities who simply gave her name as Mrs. Feyisetan said that nurses’ attitude depends on individual personality.

“Some nurses, when they work a bit, flare up at the slightest opportunity, while others do their work diligently without any issue. Some transfer aggression to patients, due to issues from home.

“Nurses are not angels but at the same time we are not as the public portray us. Some patients are in our facilities to deal with nurses due to their impression of us. As for me, I am not harsh on my patients. I take good care of them and assist them when necessary.

“The people sometimes mistake other health professionals to be nurses, especially when they are in uniform, which is not supposed to be. Nurses too on the other hand should always apply wisdom when dealing with patients.

Ondo State Chairman, National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Mr Kehinde Olomiye, explained that even though nurses have not been taught to be harsh, research has shown that  they fall below standard in their bad attitude towards clients.

While lamenting the way nurses’ interaction interferes with the objective of care to their clients, he explained that even though they have the hand that cares and the voice that gives hope within the system, it is unprofessional to be unruly to clients.

Olomiye who said that measures were being put in place by leaders of the profession to look into the situation stated that a lot of factors contributed to it, citing inadequate personnel, lack off efficient working tools and poor welfare, among others.

According to him; “Today, the least we have in a 70/75 bedded ward are two nurses, as against 6/7 per shift. With this, there will be pressure and psychological, it affects coping capability.

“Averagely in Nigeria, most nurses are the breadwinners of their homes. By the time they get to the hospital, with the workload being faced, they react negatively.

“There is also hospital protocol which often leads to hostility or bad attitude towards client.

“Inefficient working tools; there are times that situations in the hospital put them at loggerheads with their clients.

“We do so many things to save lives but in the process get infected. We are the most prominent in the health sector and we are bound to deliver our work effectively.”

However, he stressed the need for them to embrace the ethics of the profession and diligently discharge their duties.