To mark the 2022 International Nurses Day, The Amuwo Odofin Maternal and Child Centre (AOMCC) in Lagos have organised a medical outreach to improve the healthcare of staff and members of the community to mark the 2022 International Nurses Day.
The week-long event was organised by the nurses to commemorate the day- May 12 in memory of Florence Nightingale’s birth, an English social reformer, a statistician and founder of modern nursing.
With the theme, Nurses: “A Voice to Lead – Invest in Nursing and Respect Rights to Secure Global Health’’ the need to protect, support and invest in the nursing Profession to strengthen health system around the world was the focus.
Speaking at the outreach, the Deputy Director of Nursing Services at AOMCC, Mrs Rosaline Oladimeji, said that it was a high time for nurses to celebrated themselves and also be celebrated.
Oladimeji, who is also the apex nurse at the hospital, said the nurses decided to reach out to the community, while also reminding themselves of the benefits of healthy living in the society.
The medical outreach included: A dental wash, food demonstrations, body massage, Hepatitis B, cholesterol levels, blood pressure and blood sugar checks.
The apex nurse said, “Our medical director in his magnanimity has changed the slogan of, ‘who takes care of nurses,’ because nurses take care of others, nobody takes care of us.
“He told the laboratory department to carry out free blood sugar and cholesterol levels check to promote and maintain health. Nurses are very important to our society, we’re needed to take care of people and if nurses are not healthy, they cannot put in their best.
“Here in AOMCC, we ensure no pregnancy is wasted. We painstakingly mentor pregnant women, tell them what to do and how to help us to help them.”
She urged Nigerians particularly the nurses to maintain proper oral hygiene as it was a therapeutic way of helping patients. “No matter how you brush your teeth, some food particles will hide in some corners and having a scaling and polishing will help take it off.
“When you smile at your patients, they should see very clean teeth; a smiling nurse is therapeutic enough to heal a patient,” she maintained.
she commended AOMCC management and staff, Studio 24, Kopul Dental Clinic, Ovis Massage and Salad Master for their support towards Nurses, implored Nigerians to give every necessary support they deserve, noting that the services of nurses are indispensable.
Similarly, a Therapist at Kopul Dental Clinic, Mrs Adeola Odujebe, recommended brushing the teeth twice daily using the correct method, gargling after every meal, eating fruits often and dental visits regularly for scaling and polishing, to remove plagues and tartar build-up.
“It is in our own interest when we take adequate care of our teeth among other health precautionary measures. . Eating fruits and visiting the dentist for scaling and polishing to remove Plagues and tartar, should not be done once upon a time, but a regular act,” she charged.
Other parts of the activities marking the day was the demonstration of how to make healthy meals, including salads without using bad fats and oil, displayed by a Health Coach, Mr Christian Okoro (Salad Master).
Recall that the Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War where she organised care for wounded soldiers at Constantinople, an ancient city in Turkey now known as Istanbul.
Sun