25/04/2016
THE AFRICAN NURSE MENTALITY
Dear African nurses, IT IS NOT A
PROFESSION THAT MAKES MEN, IT
IS RATHER MEN THAT MAKES A
PROFESSION. I have made it a point
of duty to repeat these statement
whenever I write to encourage nurses.
The success of a particular profession
is a reflection of hard work, sacrifices
and innovations of individuals who
chose that field of life. It is a fact that
professions like Engineering,
Medicine, Law, Mathematics, Physics
and Astronomy etc have taking the
best brains that human genetics have
produced in the history of mankind.
Hence, this gifted individuals
ventured into areas that ordinary men
could not conceive and made major
breakthroughs. The society therefore
stands in respect for people who are
members of the profession that her
members traveled to the moon, the
society respect the profession of Dr.
Ben Carson, the society respect the
profession of Bill Gates, the society
respects the heroism of Men and
Women in the military forces, Yes
they stand to honor the profession
that produced great leaders like
Mahatma Gandhi, Bill Clinton
(Lawyers) etc.
Historically, Nursing was once a
vocation with no respect whatsoever.
However, one woman stepped in, our
Florence Nightingale. With her
education, innovation and hard work,
she changed the face of nursing
forever and she became the forerunner
of the science and the principles that
qualified nursing to be called a
profession today. Mankind will talk
about her contribution to humanity
till the end of time. So many
individuals through their work builds
up the body of knowledge of today’s
nursing profession, thereby, creating
life savers through their
contributions. If there is any
profession greater than nursing today,
it is simply because while we have
had one Nightingale and few
extraordinary nurses, they have had
many “Nightingale’s of their own and
numerous members who
accomplished extraordinary things.
That is the reality and no sentiments
can counter it. Nursing today is
greatest in the United States, Canada
and Australia. These three countries
are responsible for more than 80
percent of innovations in nursing
globally. They have more active
members with good political
awareness, they have more nurses in
government , in the United Nations
(UN) and other big international
organizations.
In Africa, nurses can be whatever they
want to be. The problems in nursing
are caused by nurses and the solution
for nursing will be provided by nurses.
All we need to do is to accept as
individuals and groups to be the
solution to several nursing
challenges.
Ask yourself;
Do I support progressive changes in
nursing?
Do I have the courage to think outside
the box and be innovative?
Do I attend professional meetings and
rallies?
Do I carry out research in nursing?
What is my commitment in
advocating for quality nursing
practice and improved nursing
welfare?
How many books, articles etc have I
writing to contribute to nursing
knowledge?
What innovations have I pursued in
nursing?
How much, in time and money, do I
spend daily, weekly or monthly in
pursuit of nursing knowledge ?
Do I prioritize my resources for
professional development ahead of
social pleasures?
How far have I advanced my
education in Nursing?
How many hours have I spent in
pursuit of leadership and intellectual
growth in nursing outside my major
employment duties?
Do I attend Nursing Seminars,
workshops, conferences and
stakeholders meetings?
Am I an active member of my
professional association, do I attend
their congress and contribute
positively to nursing debate?
Am I in a leadership position in
nursing for my selfish gains?
Am I providing enough voice and
actions to push nursing leaders to sit
up to their responsibilities?
Am I a member of a political party in
my country so I can connect nurses to
political leadership and bring us to
the table where the fates of our
citizens are being decided?
Am I obstructing any development in
nursing because it will not favor me?
Am I supporting a policy that
discourages nurses from advance
learning, promoting mediocrity and
divisions?
Am I one of those nurses training
quacks in private hospitals?
Etc
The questions are endless, it is an
honest assessment of your passion
and your commitment for nursing
development. All of us must look at
ourselves in the mirror and ask
ourselves honest questions about
how negatively or positively we have
impacted our noble profession.
Remember that Albert Einstein and
Dr. Ben Carson where both told they
would never amount to anything in
life academically, but both men
eventually done something that have
shaped our world. Truth be told, I
have never seen a group with low
confident, low ambition and with so
much pessimism like African Nurses.
This is not an era of shouting and
singing “great nurses” everywhere.
We have to give ourselves accurate
diagnosis before we can come up
with appropriate corrective measures
that will enable us to thrive. Our
profession by her very nature is noble,
because it has been given a social
contract to heal through the art and
science of caring. We are the one
bringing down the reputation of our
profession through our intellectual
laziness, political apathy, poor
professional investment and host of
other anti-growth attitudes. Of course
we cannot indict all African nurses,
but majority have not been doing
anything to attract honor and glory to
our profession. They just want to do
their shift and earn salary while
hoping for a messiah to drop down
from heaven and change the
profession. It is only when majority of
nurses in African begins to believe
that the greatness of our profession
lies in their hands that we can begin
to see progress. Greatness is earned
through hard work, innovation and
strong leadership. It is not by
complaining and blaming everybody
except you. How on earth do you
think that doctors would abandon
themselves and call you to take over
health leadership? They earned
whatever they have today. They
made sure that the society gives
them what they earned and are still
telling the society that it is not
enough. I f you allow them, they will
add your own opportunities to their
success. why not? since we had
chosen to remain in a perpetual
comma professionally. But not
anymore!
Hello nurses, NOT ONLY MUST WE
EARN OUR OWN PLACE AMONG
ELITE PROFESSIONS, IT IS ALSO ON
US AND ONLY ON US TO ENSURE
THAT THE SOCIETY GIVE US WHAT
WE HAVE EARNED AND DESERVED
AND WE MUST NOT AT ANY POINT
FEEL THAT WE HAVE ARRIVED.
Growth is a continuous process,
whatever stops growing starts dying
immediately.
Therefore make up your mind to be
the change that African nurses are
yearning for today. Identify a problem
to solve in nursing and encourage
others to do the same. If we do this,
in no distant time, we will see African
nurses becoming inventors, great
writers, great researchers’, great
teachers, Presidents, Governors,
directors in national and international
organizations etc. Individually, our
effort will bring changes in nursing
and collectively our work will position
our noble profession in the hall of
fame. The future generation we bless
us for we will live behind a respected
and lucrative profession whose
services have become the major life
saver in the society and whose
members have positively changed the
social, economic and political fortune
of a continent.
WE HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO NOT
ONLY CHANGE NURSING, WE CAN
CHANGE THE WORLD. IT IS OUR
DUTY, ALL OF US ARE THAT
SAVIOUR OF AFRICAN NURSES THAT
WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR.
INDEED, THE SAVIOUR OF AFRICAN
NURSES HAS COME, JUST LOOK IN
THE MIRROR, YOU WILL SEE HIM/
HER.
BY &VChildrenF
