The Registrar/CEO Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria has called on the Federal Government and other tiers of government to invest more in nursing education, infrastructure, welfare and a conducive work environment to create a more productive workforce.
Ndagi made the call at an event to mark the 2025 International Nurses Week, and unveiling of the Seventh edition of the State House Nurses Magazine, organized by the Nursing Department of the State House Medical Centre on Monday in Abuja.
While calling on authorities to ensure that nurses are placed at the centre of health reforms, the Registrar also appealed to stakeholders to respect, value and support nurses as they serve with compassion and dedication.
He added that nurses are central to employees’ health by managing work–related health issues, conducting health surveillance and responding to emergencies, stressing that supporting nurses’ wellbeing is a sure path to improved patient safety, lower rates of medical error, increased productivity, and occupational retention.
The Registrar who was the keynote speaker, noted that the 2025 theme, “Our Nurses Our Future: Caring for Nurses, Strengthens Economies,” shifts focus to the health and wellbeing of nurses, underscoring the critical role of a healthy nursing workforce in strengthening economies and improving health systems.
According to him, “the day honours the nursing profession and serves as a global platform to recognize nurses’ contributions while raising awareness about the critical challenges they face, such as workforce shortages, mental health strain, and inadequate support systems.
“This theme provides an opportunity to bring actionable solutions to support nurses in their daily work and improve their long-term health.”
Advocating for the creation of safer, more supportive and positive work environments, the Registrar stated that it was imperative to foster high-performing cultures, ultimately ensuring improved access to quality patient care.
Chairman of the occasion, Engr Arthur Eze, represented by Brig. Gen I.U Babangida (rtd) eulogized nurses for their compassion and dedication to work despite some inconveniences.
He called on governments at all levels to ensure that nurses were accorded their due respect and well-being so that “we do not lose such experienced and resilient workforce to other nations.”
In her welcome address, the Head of Nursing Department, State House Medical Centre, Nurse Taiwo Thompson-Olatigbe, stated that this year’s theme reiterated the critical roles nurses play in the healthcare delivery and, by extension, the national economy, saying that nurses are the backbone and fulcrum of an efficient healthcare delivery.
She added, “We are facing economic, health and societal pressures like never before and at the heart of these challenges and solutions, Nurses are there, ever-sacrificial. We are the ones who show up every day in the clinics, on night shifts, in the wards, on the frontlines, in rural communities, emergencies and in quiet moments of care.”
She declared that nurses carried the physical, emotional and mental healthcare systems and yet did so with “grace, strength and resilience that deserves just more than our gratitude, it deserves investment. Caring for nurses is not charity; it is a strategy. Let’s be clear, caring for nurses is not an act of generosity: it is a sound economic strategy.”
She called on the management of the State House to consider the need to prioritise the training and manpower development of nurses in the Centre, stating that they engage in self–development.
Unveiling the Magazine, His Royal Highness, Etsu Kwali, Luka Ayedoo Nizassan III, commended the organisers for bringing the need to advance the cause of nurses to the fore, highlighting the correlation between caring for nurses and strengthening the nation’s economy.
The royal father stated that “only a healthy and emotionally stable nurse would attend to the physical and emotional need of a patient, who would in turn, be productive and grow the economy.”
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs Dr Keshinro Maryam, Chief Physician to the President, Dr Ade Tinubu, Director of Nurses, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Development, Dame Francisca Okafor, President of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, among others, delivered goodwill messages.
International Nurses Day (IND) is celebrated annually on May 12, marking the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, globally regarded as founder of modern nursing. She died August 13, 1910.
The week-long commemoration includes paper presentations on various health and developmental issues as well as scientific and interactive sessions.
