The University of Calabar has inducted 99 new nurses into the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).
The oath taking ceremony took place at the institution’s Conference Centre in Calabar.
Speaking during the ceremony, Prof. Florence Banku Obi, Vice Chancellor of the univeristy, urged the graduands to exhibit a good attitude and care when administering treatment on their patients.
Prof. Obi, who was represented by Prof. Michael Okom, the Deputy Vice Chancellor Administration, stressed that such care would determine their professional advancement in the nursing profession.
She charged the new nurses to always embrace the virtues of selflessness, humility and compassion in the course of discharging their duties.
While congratulating them for the great feat, the Vice Chancellor described the nursing profession as one with a ‘rich history and tradition’, even as she cautioned the graduands against indulging in unethical practices that may put their professional advancement in jeopardy.
”Your attitude and disposition towards the health needs of your patients would greatly determine your professional advancement.
”As graduate nurses, you must be selfless, humble and compassionate when discharging your duties. You must adhere to the tenets of your profession”
”Your attitude is also capable of projecting or destroying the reputation of your Alma Mata, so you must also exhibit a good attitude towards your patients,” she said.
Prof. Obi also urged the inductees to adopt the way of life of a legendary nurse, “Florence Nightingale’, whose legacies as a professional nurse has been etched on the sands of time.
She appreciated lecturers in the faculty for imparting knowledge on the graduands, saying that their contributions would not be forgotten in a hurry.
Provost of the College of Medical Sciences, Prof. Victor Ansa, in his remarks, said the College remains the flagship of the institution, just as he tasked the graduands to bring succor to patients by offering efficient and effective health care.
Prof. Ansa who encouraged the graduate nurses to give back to the society, further reminded them of the need to practice their profession with the highest degree of honesty, diligence and transparency.
The Dean, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Prof. Idongesit Akpabio, said: “as the certified nurses move out of their Alma Mata following their graduation, they should always look back and remember where they were moulded”.
Prof. Akpabio who is also the Chairman, Committee of Deans, urged the graduands to always lift the name of their Alma Mata high by desisting from acts capable of tarnishing the image of the university.
She announced that the faculty has not only began the Masters Degree programme, but has added the Doctorate Degree programme in many speciality areas of nursing.
Alhaji Umar Abubakar, Secretary-General/Registrar of NMCN, who spoke shortly after administering oath on the graduands, said the inductees were the future of the nursing profession and charged them to step out and make a difference.
Abubakar, who was represented by the Director, Nursing/Head of Education Department of NMCN, Dr Margaret Eze, said that the graduates have attained a high standard of education with clinical skills that will enable them render safe and effective health care.
The Secretary-General said that as certified nurses, they must be able to perform nursing skills in a variety of health care settings, thereby urging them to function collaboratively with other health care professionals in any health care setting.
Alhaji Abubakar, who implored the graduands to respect the oath of the profession, also admonished them to be credible ambassadors, adhere to the code of ethics of the nursing profession and to display humility and honesty in the course of their practice at all times.
He further charged them to place the patients in the centre of all they do in their professional practice, noting that their attitude to patients will make or mar them as professional nurses.
The best graduating student, Ekong Evans, in her valedictory speech, described the Nursing Department as an ‘ultimate family’.
She thanked lecturers, parents and guardians for helping them achieve their academic dreams.
She called on other graduands to be good ambassadors of the institution wherever they find themselves and shun unwholesome practices that may be inimical to their career progression.
