Nursing Through It All By Nurse Membrane
I took this picture many years ago to remind myself what i went through to become the Nurse i am today. In a hospital were nothing works,a teaching hospital were nurses take over with rechargeable light on the accident and emergency center,in a place were their is no gloves or materials to take care of the sick and yet we keep coming to work unpaid, we keep taking care of the sick, we keep risking our lives, needle pricks every now and then due to darkness, loss of lifes that could have been avoided if not for corruption, and did i mention that some of us like my humble self were only employed as contract nurses,we had no permanent job,when ebola came we responded because we love to care for the sick,when lasser fever came we responded,i nursed a redeem pastor without any assistance till he died and I had to be quarantined, Luth promised to employ me but it was all empty promises.
When they called me to help fight ebola in Liberia i responded only to return and was kicked out of the room were i was supposed to be qurantined in Abuja,i returned to continue my contract job in luth,i could not marry as i couldnt afford a wife,no house,no food as the salary was nothing compared to the bills to be paid.The luth Medical director professor Bode promised me a job as i helped establish and run their infection control unit but i was not short listed as my name was finally removed,i finally resigned after 4years of working as a contract Nurse,the picture you now see were my collegues taking over critically ill patient without proper light.
If you dont know my story dont envy my glory,if you dont know were my journey started dont question my breakthrough.When i got on a plane to leave Nigeria it was not because i was looking for greener pastures but i was feed up with a system that will never reward hard work and sacrifice,if i were in America or the UK i would have been celebrated but no i was sent away by corruption.I know that i will not come home to work as a nurse in my life time,i know my heart still bleeds,i know that i have not forgotten University of Lagos teaching hospital Luth for what their management did to me,i also know that i will never have to use Lamp to take over again here in England,my only concern is what the furture holds for my collegues who are still stuck in this hospital who can not afford to make an urgent move,i do not know the furture of my children who may decide to be nurses back home.
As i share this experience i still feel heartbroken,i now live a good life better experienced than imagined but i have come a long way,i have paid dues that i shouldn’t,needless heart aches,nightmares,unspeakable fustrations and if you are out there in luth or anywere else crying for what corrupt men and women are making you go through in Nigeria and beyound,my thoughts are with you and your collegues,Nurse membrane feels your pain,i know whats it like to be a professional and yet unable to feed yourself and family.
In loving memories of all my collegues who died in this struggle both in Nigeria and all over the Continent of Africa.. Nurse membrane.
