Patients at Kaduna’s National Ear Care Centre are facing unbearable conditions as a nationwide nurses’ strike leaves them without critical care. The federal health facility, normally bustling with activity, has become a scene of distress with admitted patients struggling to receive basic medical attention.
When our reporter visited on Thursday, patients shared harrowing accounts of neglect. Peace Agadama, battling acute sinusitis and a bacterial infection, described her ordeal: “The pain is excruciating. For three days, no one changed my cannula. My hands are swollen. Doctors try but they’re overwhelmed.” Some patients were reportedly discharged prematurely due to staff shortages.
Another patient, who asked not to be named, likened the experience to “hell,” revealing how basic needs like using the restroom or getting drinking water became impossible without nursing staff. “We just lay there praying nothing would go wrong,” she said in a weak voice.
Abbas Daura, Head of Nursing Services at the center, confirmed the total withdrawal of services except for emergencies. “Patients aren’t getting satisfactory care. This strike results from years of neglect – poor working conditions, lack of tools, and mass migration of nurses abroad,” he explained.
Dr. Saheed Nasir, a senior doctor at the facility, disclosed this is part of a one-week nationwide warning strike across federal hospitals. “Without nurses, it’s like rowing a boat with one paddle,” he said, expressing hope for quick resolution.
The nurses’ demands include better pay, improved working conditions, payment of backlog allowances, and proper career progression policies. As the health sector teeters on the brink, patients like Agadama plead: “This isn’t politics. Government should give nurses what they deserve. We’re talking about saving lives.”
The strike highlights Nigeria’s worsening healthcare brain drain, with thousands of trained nurses leaving annually for better opportunities abroad. With other medical unions threatening solidarity actions, millions of Nigerians face potentially deadly gaps in healthcare services.
