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UniPort Hosts Maiden Zonal University Nurses Forum
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- Published: 16 August 2016
Nurses in the South-South Zone of the country under the aegis of the Nigerian University Nurses Forum (NUNF) and their umbrella body, National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), converged in the University of Port Harcourt on Wednesday, August 10, 2016 for a one-day maiden Interactive Forum to chart pathways for the allied medical profession.
Receiving the delegates during the opening ceremony before they went into the business session, Wife of the Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Port Harcourt Women Association (UPWA), Mrs. Joy Lale, conveyed the goodwill message of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ndowa Lale to the visiting Nurses. She commended their contributions to the well-being of members of their various university communities and congratulated them for joining a noble profession that was dedicated to saving lives.
“I was delighted when I was told that the maiden Zonal Forum of the Nigerian University Nurses Forum will hold in UniPort. This Forum will avail the delegates an opportunity to put heads together in order to confront the challenges facing their practice. I am happy with the vision of the Forum and I hope that this laudable objective will be sustained so that the younger ones coming behind us will also see the need for such rewarding interactions,” Wife of the Vice-Chancellor, who is also a Nurse told the gathering.
In his address, National Chairman of NUNF, Mr. Uko Uboh, gave a brief profile of the Forum, stating that: “The Nigerian University Nurses Forum came into existence on 27th August, 2014, during her first National Meeting at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State and was attended by six universities. The Forum is not a trade union; it is a unifying body of Nurses working in Nigerian University Health Centres.
“It is an arm of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives and shares its aims and objectives. Her philosophy focuses on issues that will impact positively on the lives of members and how to enhance our professional practice. It is believed that NUNF will help the profession to be more responsive to the health needs of students, staff and the entire university community.”
Mr. Uboh submitted that: “In view of advancement and technological developments in the medical profession, knowledge explosion and most importantly, dealing with well-informed consumers of nursing care within the university community, continuing education through conferences, workshops, seminars and research shall be our focus,” further stressing the need for reliable and valid health information dissemination between the profession and university Managements.
He listed the objectives of the Forum to include: creating a Forum for university Nurses to interact as a body, to regularly review the standard of nursing services rendered within the university community, to play a participatory role in policy-making and administration of healthcare services in universities, to project the image of the nursing profession within the university and ensure better welfare and conditions of service aimed at promoting the dignity of the profession.
Earlier in her welcome speech, Chairperson of UniPort Chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, Mrs. Olajide Mojisola, expressed gratitude to the national body for granting the maiden hosting right of the Zonal Forum to the University. Others who spoke at the event included the Chief Matron at the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Health Centre, Mrs. Florence Ogwo, who also hoped that the Forum would provide a platform for ventilating ideas that would move the nursing profession forward.
