The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMCN) of Nigeria tasked nurses to leave religion and focus on their professional responsibility, which is caring for their patients.
The counsel was given by the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Council, Dr. Faruk Abubakar, at the 5th and 6th induction oath-taking ceremony of 108 registered nurses of Osun State University, Osogbo, on Friday.
Abubakar tasked the nurses to steer clear of religious controversy at work in a bid to avoid trouble.
News About Nigeria reports that Abubakar said this in line with recent events where some Nigerian nurses practicing abroad were queried for encouraging patients to pray during their treatments in some hospitals.
Abubakar, who was represented by the council’s project manager, Mr. Olaniyi Filade, noted that a nurse’s duty is to make sure that they care for their patients irrespective of their status, gender, or even religion.
He said, “Well, religion is a personal expression, and it has nothing to do with the profession, but one thing that is clear is that, as a professional, one of the ethics the profession made clear is that you are to take care of your patients irrespective of their ethnic background, their beliefs, and their faith; whatever they’re disposed to shouldn’t be the basis for caring for them. Doing that could lead to trouble.
“A nurse’s duty is to make sure that irrespective of their patient’s status, even gender, you care for them as is expected of you as a professional; that is what is expected of every nurse and that is what their training and even the ethics of the profession state.”
