The National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) Tuesday said nurses and midwives deserved special attention because they are the backbone of health care delivery.

President of NANNM, Federal Health Institutions sector, Mr Wale Olatunde, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

Olatunde, in reference to the role of nurses in Universal Health Coverage (UHC), specifically identified them as being in the forefront in health promotion, disease prevention, treatment as well as rehabilitation process of care, across all ages and sex.

According to him, nurses constitute a very crucial segment of the health care delivery team because they care for the patient in the hospital.

“When a medical doctor sees a patient and walks away, nurses stay with the patient to watch what the doctor and pharmacist have done.

“They make sure that the patient eats, urinates and monitors his or her interaction with family members,” he said.

The union official also explained that members were expected to care for mothers and ensure they adhered to practices that would protect and safequard pregnancies through antenatal care, postnatal care  among others, to guard against maternal and child mortality.

“Nurses educate mothers on good and adequate nutrition that will ensure healthy motherhood and proper development of foetus; the need for antenatal care and breastfeeding, as well as complimentary feeding.”

Olatunde noted that when nurses fail in these roles, there would be gaps in delivery process, child nutrition, health, among others.

“When you equip the mother, you have equipped the family; when you equip the family, you have equipped the society, and it has a multiplier effect.

“The nurses equip mothers to know that she must eat well for the baby to grow well; to go for antenatal for the baby to come out fine; and to also breastfeed the child, which helps in the developmental milestone of the baby.”

According to him, it is not all about treatment; nurses are involved in health promotion, disease prevention, treatment and rehabilitation process of care.

“So, nurses are actually in the forefront in health care,” Olatunde said.

The president, however, identified health care delivery as a multi-professional task that required collaborative effort toward achieving universal health coverage. (NAN)