The Nurses and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) has re-opened its website for checking nurses’ and midwives’ certificates.
The DAILY POST learned this website started working again on Saturday. It was turned off back in December 2023.
But, the NMCN hasn’t officially said anything about this yet.
This happened while the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) was telling the Nigerian government to listen to the nurses’ requests.
NANNM warned the government: meet our demands in 15 days, or we will strike.
This 15-day warning ended today, Monday, 16th September, 2024.
NANNM wants the website open quickly, better pay for nurses, and a new Nursing Department, among other things.
Before the website re-opened, many meetings happened. These meetings included the Minister of Health, NMCN, and NANNM.
The National Assembly even asked the NMCN twice to open the website and start checking certificates again, while an investigation is going on.
Philip Eteng, the National Secretary of Graduate Nurses Association of Nigeria (GNAN), talked to DAILY POST. He said the talks with the Minister of Health and the nurses are still happening.
“They started talking yesterday. Today is the second day,” he said.
“From what we know, yesterday’s talks led to the website re-opening.
“Before, the Minister didn’t approve the website to re-open.
“So, maybe today, it happened because of the talks with NANNM. We will have more details soon,” Eteng said.
A nurse from a big teaching hospital also told DAILY POST that the website is open now. She said the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives asked them to wait until Wednesday before using it.
She said the rules are mostly the same, but there is a new one about a “letter of clear standing.”
“Yes, it’s now open. But there are some new things we don’t understand yet.
“We’ve been asked to wait until Wednesday. I could go on the website myself.
“Now, we need to get a ‘letter of clear standing’ from the last school we attended.
“For working nurses, it has to come from the head of nursing service, not the Chief Medical Director like before.
“We are not worried. We’ll wait until Wednesday,” she said.
Mr. Ojo Opeyemi, President of the Graduate Nurses Association of Nigeria (GNAN), also confirmed the re-opened website to DAILY POST. He said they are reviewing the new rules and don’t want to rush to judge them.
“Yes, the website is open again. We are checking the new rules.
“People have complaints, and we want to see if these are common.
“We want more information before deciding on the new rules. So far, some new rules aren’t liked,” Opeyemi said.
Earlier, DAILY POST reported that many Nigerian nurses were stuck because the NMCN site for checking certificates was closed.
Some stranded nurses were in other countries, and some almost got sent back to Nigeria.
This problem started when Nursing boards in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the UK stopped accepting Nigeria’s certificates because they couldn’t verify them.
The issue began in February 2024. The NMCN was worried because over 42,000 nurses left Nigeria in the last three years to work in other countries.
In 2023 alone, over 15,000 nurses left Nigeria. This was due to poor healthcare, not enough money, bad welfare, and working conditions in the health sector.
To stop nurses from leaving, the NMCN made new rules for checking certificates. This was to help the crisis.
In a memo on February 7, 2024, the NMCN outlined the new rules.
For example, applicants had to have two years of work experience and pay a fee, among other things.
Health workers, especially nurses, were not happy about these new rules. They said it violated their rights.
They didn’t like that a nurse must have two years of work experience to get NMCN certification.
