Gov Mbah Achieves Milestone: ESUT Gets NMCN Approval for Internship and Indexing

Peter Mbah

After a 19-year wait, ESUT Teaching Hospital, Parklane, Enugu, has received approval for an internship program and indexing of nursing students from the NMCN, thanks to Governor Mbah's administration's investment in healthcare infrastructure and commitment to nurse welfare and training.

After a 19-year wait, the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) Teaching Hospital, Parklane, Enugu, has finally received approval for an internship program from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN). This milestone comes after successive sets of the Department of Nursing had awaited this approval.

The NMCN also granted approval for the indexing of nursing students at the Colleges of Nursing and the former School of Nursing, Awgu, which was recently upgraded to a College of Nursing. These approvals were announced by Dr. Faruk Umar Abubakar, the registrar of the council, during a courtesy visit to Governor Peter Mbah at the Government House, Enugu.

Dr. Abubakar commended the Peter Mbah administration for providing the necessary infrastructure at the Colleges of Nursing, Park Lane and Awgu, to create a conducive environment for teaching and learning. He also acknowledged the administration's attention to the welfare of health workers. The council approved the immediate recruitment of 50 interns to work at Park Lane, which will enable more graduate nurses to be trained at the ESUT University Teaching Hospital, boosting the state's nursing manpower.

“When you train nurses in Nigeria, they are specialists in Midwifery, General Nursing and Public Health and the internship program will strengthen the health sector,” he stated.

Dr. Abubakar praised Governor Mbah for his approval of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS), the most recent salary scale for nurses. He noted that this demonstration of commitment will likely lead to the state retaining many of its skilled nurses, as they will now receive competitive compensation, reducing the likelihood of them seeking opportunities elsewhere.

“Good salaries, infrastructure provision, human resources, and employment of quality nurses will help reduce migration of Nurses.

“So, I am very optimistic that with what you are doing in the state's health sector, the environment will be so conducive and 'japa syndrome' will drastically reduce,” he added.

Governor Mbah, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Chidiebere Onyia, expressed gratitude to the NMCN for the approvals while acknowledging the lamentable 19-year stagnation of the state's nursing institutions. However, he highlighted his administration's decisive action to revitalize the sector through significant investments in healthcare and nursing infrastructure, marking a turning point for the state's nursing institutions.

“We were clear from the outset that something consequential had to happen in the nursing space in terms of infrastructure, manpower training, remuneration, and motivation. We cannot possibly grow our economy from $4.4 billion to $30 billion if we do not get the health sector right.

“We were clear from the outset that something consequential had to happen in the nursing space in terms of infrastructure, manpower training, remuneration, and motivation. We cannot possibly grow our economy from $4.4 billion to $30 billion if we do not get the health sector right.

“Let me also assure you that the gaps you have further identified will be given utmost attention. We will not play around with your recommendations,” he assured.

“Meanwhile, to clarify the development, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health Matters, Dr Yomi Jaye, described the approvals as ‘a monumental breakthrough.’

“You know, this struggle started immediately after the governor came into office and discovered that there were many accreditation gaps in the School of Nursing among other healthcare institutions in the state.

“So, for 19 years, the NMCN first sited the department of nursing, our student-nurses from ESUT were not indexed, and they have not been writing professional examinations to qualify as nurses. One breakthrough now is that, as the registrar said, all of them will be indexed. All backlogs will be cleared so that there won't be any backlogs by next year. This is what had been standing for 19 years. So, our young Ndi Enugu, it's exam time. Governor Peter Mbah has cleared the way,” he said.