North should establish more nursing schools — Registrar

The Registrar, Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, Alhaji Faruk Umar has enjoined northern states to establish more schools of nursing and midwifery.

He said such would provide needed manpower for healthcare in the states, complement government efforts as well as bridge the gap between the number of nursing and midwifery institutions in the southern part of the country compared to the North.

Umar made the call during an interview with Daily Trust in Abuja saying the council was willing and ready to provide timely accreditation as long as the school meets up with the human and infrastructural requirements.

The nursing and midwifery boss said there was need for more nurses and midwives to work in the communities, and this can only be achieved when more indigenes were trained through the institutions in their areas.

The registrar said there were 126 nursing and midwifery schools in the South and 83 in the North. He said there was need for well to do individuals and faith organizations in the North to establish hospitals, which would in turn help in the establishment of nursing and midwifery institutions.

He said only Kaduna, Benue and Kogi have faith based nursing and midwifery institutions, while those in the remaining 16 northern states were owned by the government. He noted that this was unlike the South where some are owned by faith based organizations.

He said there were 173,574 registered nurses, and 114,468 midwives registered by the council as at Thursday last week making a total of 288,042 nurses and midwives.

He said on average about 6000 nurses and 2,696 midwives were produced from the various schools of nursing and midwifery in the country annually.