The College of Nursing Services, Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti, has reiterated its commitment to producing qualified healthcare professionals to help address manpower shortages in the country’s health sector.
The Chief Medical Director of EKSUTH, Prof. Kayode Olabanji, said the college had begun producing competent nurses, midwives and public health nurses to strengthen healthcare delivery in Nigeria and other parts of the world.
Olabanji, who spoke in Ado Ekiti on Monday, disclosed that the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria would induct the college’s first set of 109 graduates into the profession on Thursday.
He said the graduates completed their four-year programme and passed the required qualifying examinations following the upgrade of the erstwhile EKSUTH School of Nursing and Midwifery to the College of Nursing Services in 2022.
He said, “The first set of students admitted in 2022 have now completed their training. The next thing is for the 109 fresh nurses to be inducted into the profession by the NMCN, which has been given the powers by the Federal Government to do so.
“The induction by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria is a very important landmark to authenticate that the graduates have been trained, certified, licensed and are competent to practise. They are accepted not just in Nigeria, but the world over. They can practise anywhere.”
The CMD said the college was established to help address the shortage of healthcare professionals caused partly by the migration of practitioners to other countries.
He said, “EKSUTH College of Nursing Services has now risen to that challenge to bridge that gap. This is a critical mass of professionals that will fill that gap, and we will continue to do that.”
The Provost of the college, Dr Olabisi Awe, said the institution had modern facilities and competent personnel to provide students with world-class professional training.
Awe commended Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji; the NMCN; and the EKSUTH CMD, Olabanji, among others, for their support in helping the college achieve its objectives.