NONM Talks Reformation
31 May, 2022: International Nurses’ Day Commemoration this year was done in an inhouse way for one reason; that nurses should focus on working on issues that hinder progress of the profession.
The National Organisation of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi (NONM) has expressed desire to turn things around in the nursing and midwifery profession to bring back the profession’s old glory and reputation.
Speaking in an interview in Lilongwe at the International Nurses’ Day Commemorations, NONM president, Shouts Simeza, said NONM is aware of the misconducts that nurses and midwives do at times and they want to make things right.
He said: “In as much as the theme this year is talking about investing in nursing and midwifery but we also appreciate that we have these professional and ethical issues that are limiting us to reach out to authorities, the public, etcetera.”
“Use of phones is just one example of misconducts but we have so many issues that the public has raised including the way nurses put on uniform, that nurses sleep on duty during night shift, etcetera,” he added.
According to Simeza the International Nurses’ Day Cerebrations were done like a conference this year because they wanted to discuss malpractices done by nurses and midwives themselves that are tainting the profession.
Professor Address Malata who was the guest of honour at the event concurred with Simeza saying nursing and midwifery is not just another job but a calling.
She said: “We also talked about investment into regulation. We need to regulate the profession, what nurses do. The way they look after patients. There are alot of complaints out there and I pleaded with the nurses to know that they are there to look after patients, to look after families and therefore they need to guard their ethics. Professionalism is very important; the way they speak, the way they act. Even just a simple smile is very important.”
“So, it means those of us who are in the academia should actually look at issues of ethics and professionalism in a critical way because attitude matters. It’s not about the quantity of nurses but quality, more particularly in the way these people look after patients and the nation as a whole. They should be those type of nurses that people should say, I will go to this facility because the nurses and midwives have a caring attitude.”
According to a communication which NONM Magazine has seen the International Nurses’ Day Taskforce and other stakeholders will continue meetings to work on the action points to achieve the desired end.
The International Nurses’ Day this year was cerebrated under the theme “Nurses: A Voice to lead – Invest in Nursing and Protect Rights to Secure Global Health.”