NURSES CORRECT MISREPRESENTATION OF NURSING TRAINING AND PRACTICE BY AREWA 24 IN KWANA CASA'IN

Kwana casa'in a Hausa soap opera aired on Arewa24/and watched by millions in Nigeria and around the world has done a lot of good in bringing out to bare issues confronting our society with a view to tackling them in the minds of viewers.

Having run for almost 2years now from season one to three the quality of production and casting of the said program is superb to say the least but nurses under the auspices of University Graduates of Nursing Science (UGONSA) Northern zone observed a poor portrayal of nursing training and practice in some episodes in season three (3).

In a statement by the secretary of the Northern zone, Nurse Garba A. Mustapha, the association said it would interest the producers to know that nursing training today has same entry qualifications with any discipline worth its onion in the country and is not a dumping ground for people who cannot pass JAMB or who have poor O’level results as the basic entry requirements to study nursing remains at least five credits in maths, English, physics, chemistry, and biology with a very high JAMB score usually above 220 for those wishing to study the noble profession in the university.

“It is quite disheartening to watch the revered TV program display the process of admission into schools of nursing to be solely based on who can buy it or who has the political connection.  Admissions into nursing schools are governed by strict rules laid down by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria which maintains the high standard we see today in nursing education and practice”.

“It is unfortunate that the much-admired TV show veered off to pass the wrong message to the public where it implied that a person can pass through the school of nursing without going through the rigors of academic exercises. This is not only false and misleading but at best an open display of ignorance of contemporary trends in nursing and at worst a morbid lack of appreciation of the heroic efforts nurses are playing in the fight against diseases and ailments, including the dreaded COVID-19, as such heroic professionals can't emanate from a system that is corrupt as painted by the TV show as corruption in education produces incompetent graduates something not even a mad man can say about nurses”.

UGONSA called on the TV show to tender an apology unreserved to nurses and dedicate its next episode to portraying the heroic efforts of nurses in the care of humanity.

Nursing is  a profession that is highly regulated and standardized right from training up to practice; a profession of highly skilled and competent individuals battling day and night sometimes in highly unfavourable conditions and challenging environments without commensurate pay to save lives – the statement concluded.