The Association of University Graduates in Nursing Sciences (UGONSA) has urged the federal government to increase the monthly risk allocation of members from the current N5,000.
The association stated in a letter dated March 31 that the upward adjustment should reflect the level of hazards that health workers were exposed to in its chart.
The letter, a copy of which was delivered to the Nigerian News Agency (NAN) in Abakaliki on Thursday, was addressed to the Minister of Labor and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige.
It was signed by Chief Solomon Egwuenu and Philip Eteng, president and secretary of the association, respectively.
It was titled: “Equitable Adjustment of Health Workers’ Risk Allowances.”
It read in part: “Sir, we are writing to commend your continued effort to ensure that President Muhammadu Buhari addresses our lifelong call for the review of the risk allowance for health workers.
“However, we ask for fairness in adjusting the risk allocation so that the template for the bottom-up review is prorated to the level of exposure to clinical risks.
“It is indisputable that nurses are the individual group most exposed to the dangers of healthcare among healthcare professionals.
“Nurses stay at the bedside of patients 24 hours a day and therefore have the highest exposure to health care hazards among members of the health care team.
“Since the care of humanity has been entrusted to nurses, they must be adequately compensated and motivated to carry out this task effectively and efficiently.
“For the umpteenth time, we want to re-emphasize that the current N5,000 payable to nurses, who swim in an ocean of danger, as a hazard allowance epitomizes callousness on the part of the government.
“Treatment shows a lack of commitment or political will to reposition our health system for efficient service delivery.
“At a global level, the performance of health systems is proportional to the level of well-being and motivation that nurses receive; Nursing is the cornerstone on which care is based in the health service delivery system. ”
According to UGONSA, nurses are to the health system what mothers are to the family.
“Any family where the mother is empowered becomes eternally progressive.
“But in families where mothers are subjugated and trampled on as nurses are in the Nigerian healthcare system, never move one iota,” he said.
The union denounced the mistreatment of the nurses, describing it as the nightmare of the Nigerian health system.
“Every progressive health system understands that nursing is the heart of the health system.
“And therefore the well-being and well-being of nurses is prioritized to keep a motivated workforce afloat for efficient service delivery.
“We cannot do less than join the league of progressive healthcare at this auspicious time.
“It’s better late than never; a revised allocation set evenly to reflect the level of exposure to clinical risks, such that the nurses who are most exposed receive the highest pay, will motivate them.
“Motivation will oil its latitude to meet the growing complexity of Nigerian health needs, which nurses are on the front line to drive,” the association also stated. (YAYA)
