CONFERENCES

NANNM celebrated the week at Kaduna state which was attended by Nurses all over the country.

The week long programme commenced on the 7^th May 2006 with a thanksgiving service at Our Lady of Apostles Church, Kaduna, while the closing …………………. took place at the Sheik Gummi Central mosque, Kaduna on the 12^th May 2006.  On Monday. Tuesday there was a rally/community outreach programme at Chechina Market and Television park to raise the public’s awareness on public health and disease conditions.

The workshop session featured well-researched papers by renowned scholars and top government and non-government Technocrats on 10^th –11^th May 2006.  The opening session on the 10^th was graced by the Executive Governor of the State Alhaji (Dr) Ahmed Mohammed Markarfi.

The climax of the programme came in the evening of 12^th may at the

Crystal garden hotel, Kaduna, where the Dinner/Award night took place. At the venue, the Purit Nurse of the year 2006, was the central highlight of the night, an event night which was keenly contested for from the five zones of the Association.  The winner emerged from Lagos State.

On the whole, the generality of the Nurses appreciated the week long events and are already looking forward to the 2007 Nurses’ week.

INJECTION SAFETY WORKSHOP:-

NANNM in collaboration with John Snow incorporated/making medical injections safer (MMIS) have a plan of action based on training all cadres of health care personnel including the health care waste managers on infection prevention and control with particular attention to ensuring that necessary injection are given safely and the waste generated safely disposed off.

John Snow is an lnternational organization that is working in collaboration with the united state agency for international development (USAID) and Federal Ministries of Health and environment on infection prevention and control with emphasis on injection safety.

This train the trainers programme is on zonal basis  and kick started with the zone, of the Associa0tion on April 5-8^th 2006 at Jalingo hotels, Taraba state.  The over-all goal of the workshop is to remove transmission of blood-borne diseases through infection prevention and control in the context of injection safety.

To this end, the workshop was tailored to achieve the following objectives:-  To train the Nurses in:

-                     Infection prevention and control

-                     Health Care Waste management

-                     Interpersonal communication

The participants were drawn from various sections of Nursing viz the hospitals management board, Nursing directorate in the Ministry of Health, Hospitals, Schools of Nursing and Midwifery, Family Planning units, etc. of the various states within this zone with the aim of  cascading this training to the critical areas for the achievement of the over-all goal.

This programme, being train the trainers workshop adopted adult learning methods are featured paper discussions, group work and practical sessions on the following areas:-  Infection prevention and control and injection safety.

-                     Safe injection practices

-                     Injection  safety policies

-                     Behaviour change for safe injection practices

-                     Prevention and Management of Exposures

-                     Health care waste management

Finally, the last day was spent at the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo for on-the-spot assessment of segregation of health care waste and its management.

The nurses were very appreciative of this programme and others in the remaining zones are still awaiting their turn.

PUBLIC SERVICES INTERNATIOAL (PSI)

Public Services international (PSI) is the global union federation for public sector trade unions. PSI represents some 150 affiliated trade unions in 150 countries.  Together, these unions organize more than 20 million public sector workers, providing services in central government, health and social care, municipal AND community services and public utilities.

PSI campaigns for the interests of public sector workers.  Since 1907, when it was founded, PSI has coordinated public sector struggles for workers” rights, social and economic justice, and efficient and accessible public services.

PSI represents the public sector case at the international Labour Organization and other United Nations bodies, the World Bank and the regional development banks, the international Monetary Fund, the World Trade organization, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and many others.

PSI works closely with affiliate unions to protect and extend workers’ rights, including the freedom to join a union, to bargain collectively and other rights including gender equity and diversity.

PSI campaigns to improve the quality of public services.  This involves working closely with international unions organizations, national governments, consumer loobles, community organizations and NGOs.

PSI solidarity and union development protects and help affiliated unions by providing training and capacity-building support on the ground, especially where trade unions are fighting for recognition.

PSI wants..

·       Quality public services for all

·       Union rights for all public service workers

·       Gender equality & employment equity for all

·       Public alternatives to privatization of services

·       A strong and united trade union movement

·       Social justice in the workplace

·       Poverty reduction and debt relief.

PSI’s lnternational office is next to Geneva on the French-Swiss border.  PSI has regional bases in Barbados, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, India, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Togo, Ukraine and the USA.

PSI affiliates meet at Congress every five years to develop a Programme of action which forms the basis for all PSI works.  The congress also elects an Executive Board.

PSI has active women’s committees at global, regional and sub-regional levels, and all decision-making structures are based on gender parity.

PSI works closely together with ICFTU – the lnternational Confederation of Free Trade Unions – and other union federations, in particular El, the Education lnternational, and the European Federation of Public Service Unions.

PSI  works in six official languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish and Swedish