PERSONNEL RECYCLING IN NURSING PROFESSION

Nursing possesses the greatest human resources for health in every health care sector of health in the number. Each country health care workforce is made up of thousands of nurses compared to other health professional entities. This may be due to the need nurses to cover the generic shits in the hospitals and as well rotate from duty to duty.

However it is very observed that there is much of personal recycling in nursing especially in nursing especially in Africa and mostly in the higher nursing posts/positions. In Nigeria for instance 50% of retired chief nursing officers or directors in nursing always return after their active service, to occupy similar positions in the system.

This tends to pose many question for the profession such as if there are no other upcoming nurses who are qualified to occupy those positions they return to take? Or does this suggest the nursing bodies re-appoints them and approve their continuity don’t trust their new breed? Or the qualification?

A typical example may be seen when after retirements either after clocking 60years old or 35 years of active service a nurse retires to become a principal of another nursing school or to head another department. In Nigeria it is often tagged “contract job”.

Often times we overlook these happenings, but the pure truth maybe that they never wanted to go or could not save enough to certain them staying retired. However be linked to the reason why our Nursing masters student’s never graduated within the stipulated time frame some end up taking masters course for more than 7yers and may never graduate or will graduate towards their old age. This may be how the ones who are already there create spaces to occupy after retirement owing that there is no logical reasons to allow a master degree nursing student to stay up to four or five years writing project and the supervisor busy canceling the work.

Recycling the retired nurses may as well be referred to the experiences needed in some field this is a dent to the image of nursing especially in Africa and prevent the profession’s new brains from seeing the light of the day even if they will, not until they are old enough.

Nursing profession here even employs a degree holder to work under an RN holder simply because of age or years of services and one wonders why we even need the degree and masters in nursing anymore. Though this will be a subject of discussion for another time, but nursing as a profession needs a permanent solution to these problems.

There are several talents seeking to make impacts, and yet to and rearing to go, but the recycled personnel tends to close the road to haven with this current practice we may as well be heading to extinction or brain drain which is already evident as most bright brains migrates to study abroad and remains useful while our nursing is continuously deepening in form intellectually and otherwise.

This can never be a plus for the profession rather a setback i guess?

Who is to be held accountable for this recycling of personnel? The upcoming nurses who helplessly look as the retired continue to happily occupy these positions or our various nursing bodies who allows the recycling to continue or who even appoints these people? One may continue to ruminate on this subject matter but it is about time we as a profession make our own policies, regulate our professional standard and apply the necessary measures of this profession.

We will be glad to hear your country’s situation.