Hello my fellow steemians, this is @hermannsol and today i will like to address a problem faced by people in the field of nursing practice in my country Cameroon. I encountered some of these issues as a student nurse in my so many clinical pracrices in different hospitals.

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First of all, nursing as we know it is a very honourable profession and those who choose this profession are those that are filled with love and care for others. This is the mindset of the nursing process and the mindset every nurse out there should have. In the early era, when the profession paid very little, people still performed this act with everything that was in them because this was the mindset that was in them. But today, nursing is a rewarding profession as it should be given the training that is involved nowadays to train quality nursing personnel. Nursing has evolved but this mindset still remains except in those that are not really nurses in the first place.

So, i don't really know if what i'm saying is true in other countries but i think there is need to address some issues when it comes to nursing practice in Cameroon.

SO WHAT ARE THESE ISSUES?

1. The Pay package
   
   

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   It is kind of sad to see that nursing students like myself spend 750,000FCFA ($1366) per year excluding books and other minor needs.Grabbing a bachelors degree in nursing is a 4years program and multiplying the above by 4 we have approximately 3000,000FCFA ($5464.5).
   You might think this is not bad but guess what a nurse in Cameroon earns per month??
   80-120,000FCFA (145.7-$218.7) per month with the average nurse earning 100,000FCFA ($182.14) Per Month. This means in a year, the average nurse in Cameroon earns 1.2 Million FCFA ($2185.79). This might not look too bad but when you look at it that this is someone that is living on their own coupled with food bills, house bills, paying for the education of 2-3 children, taxes, savings etc all these in a year then you will agree with me that the above pay package per year cannot do it. It is not surprising to see such nurses trying to make extra income on the patients by quacking them with drugs and over pricing they patients. So i think something should be done about this.

2. The workload
   
   

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   This is another factor that negatively influences nursing practice here in Cameroo.
   Sometimes the workload is quite too much as compared to the number of available workers. Even with this uneven ratio, the shifts are very long. Even though the 3shift system has gone operational in some hospitals, the 2shift system is still running in most hospitals. In the 2shift system, workers work 2 days Morning shifts lasting from 8AM-5PM and 2 night shifts running from 5PM-8AM the next day. You are given 2 off days and report to work again. I even remember one night on clinical practice, i did a night shift in the ICU with a single nurse on duty. So one nurse and a student had to manage a full and critical ward like the ICU. I don't need to tell you how stressful that night was and fortunately the night was calm but through out that night, i kept thinking to myself "what if all these patients go into some serious attacks; how will we handle it?. So you can see the workload that most Cameroonian nurses go through, the stress they face everyday with long shifts and uneven nurse to patient ratio. With this it is not strange to see these nurses reacting or pouring out their frustrations on the very patients they are supposed to take care of. They shout at patients and carers, neglect their ethical values of the profession and cannot give their best to patients. This is not good or beneficial to the patiwnt, nurse and society.Again i think the government of Cameroon has to do something about this.

3. Unemployment
   
   

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   This is no surprise point because the unemployment problem in cameroon and most African countries is no news. Approximately 8000 nursing students graduate each year in the country but the government launches employment concours for about 1500 places not even upto a 1/4 of the total number and most graduate nurses end up remaining jobless at the end of their studies. This is such a poor scene to look at and being a student nurse i feel so discouraged and wonder what the future holds for me. It is also unfortunate that, this is thesame thoughts my peers carry. I don't know how we have to say it or how many times but the Cameroon government really needs to step things up in this aspect.

These are but the three main reasons or issues with nursing practice in Cameroon and why they need to be addressed. It is something that affects practice, the patient and the society as a whole. I write this of a burdened heart not only for myself but also for all my friends out there and fellow nursing students. Almost all out there have plans to practice abroad after completing their education because of these issues. Out of fear of what the future holds for them if they should consider practicing in Cameroon as nurses.
In as much as we love our profession, we have families who have invested so much in us and will be looking up to us soon after graduation. We have plans of having ourcown families and giving them a comfortable life. We have dreams of buying a dream car, going on vacation, building that dream house etc.
With all these issues surrounding nursing care in Cameroon, i don't think such a dreamer should continue dreaming.

I just think something can be done about this because the truth is "nursing practice in Cameroon is not the best.

Thank you for reading and hope you liked it.