SANWO-OLU TASKS PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTION GRADUATES TO EFFECT POSITIVE CHANGES IN GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS
… urges Health Workers to Join Hands in Enhancing Healthcare Delivery System
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu has called on graduates of Health Institutions across the country to put their training into best professional practices that could engender positive changes in the management and administration of government hospitals.
Governor Sanwo-Olu noted that there is an urgent need for graduates of health institutions including medical doctors, nurses, midwives and other related professionals to use their training to effect necessary changes that would bring improvement to the healthcare delivery system, such that people’s confidence in public health institutions would be restored.
The Governor gave the charge on Thursday in his address as the Special Guest of Honour at the Fifth Convocation Ceremony of the Lagos State College of Nursing (LASCON), Igando, urging the 54 newly graduated Nurses and Midwives of the College to be conscious of the ethics of their profession and put their training into the best practices as they proceed on compulsory one-year internship training programme designed to familiarise themselves with operations in government hospitals.
Sanwo-Olu, represented at the occasion by the Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Mr. Tolani Sule, stated that his administration’s continued funding of tertiary health institutions and reforms of the health sector is hinged on the belief that the products of those institutions would bring their training experience to bear on achieving an improved health care delivery system in the State.
He also implored the new Nurses and Midwives to work hard whenever they are called to serve, advising them to get to the pinnacle of their profession and ensure that they give their best to justify the confidence reposed in them by the public.
Tasking the management of the State-owned institutions to live above board and work harder in ensuring that the current level of excellence recorded in the State institutions is sustained, Sanwo-Olu promised that his administration would not relent in implementing more reform policies that would be geared towards repositioning those institutions to become best among others,
He expressed happiness that academic activities were going on uninterrupted in all the State-owned institutions, just as he commended the management and students for maintaining peace and harmony on campuses. He added that none of the State-owned institutions had been shut down, not even for a day in the last four years of his administration.
Earlier in her welcome address, the Provost of the College, Mrs. Oyefunso Orenuga stressed the need for government at all levels to provide an enabling environment that would allow nurses to advance their training to the highest level of education for society to maximise their potential.
Orenuga noted that the 21st Century Nursing practice is highly demanding because of the advancement in technology, calling on the authority to ensure that Nurses are accorded the opportunity to attain higher levels of education and training through an improved educational system that promotes seamless academic progression.
In her lecture titled, “Our Nurses, Our Future: Education, The Most Powerful Weapon To Change the World”, the Guest Lecturer, Dr. Unice Abimbola Ojo charged the graduating Nurses and Midwives to always be conscious of the important role they would have to play before the government can achieve success in its healthcare delivery system.
Dr Abimbola, while advising them to be focused on their practice, noted that a lot of opportunities await them in their noble profession, adding that they could reach the pinnacle of their career if they are well determined.
While calling on the Nigerian government to improve the working conditions of health workers across the country, the guest lecturer stated that there is an urgent need to nip in the bud the brain drain and japa syndrome in the interest of the public.
The highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of prizes to the graduating students who distinguished themselves in their academic programmes.
Omogbehin Olajumoke Serah and Raji Bilikis Bodunrin, who emerged as overall best students in Nursing and Midwifery respectively, were rewarded with cash gifts and prizes