The 35th Annual National Conference of Catholic Nurses Guild of Nigeria took place from October 16th to 12th 2024 at Bishop Kelly Pastoral Center, St Paul, Airport Road, Benin city, Edo state. 

The Programme was well attended by Nurses all over the nation with the theme of the Conference as, “Repositioning Nursing: Issues In Contemporary Health Care.”

The opening Mass took place on Tuesday at St. Paul Catholic Church, Airport Road, Benin. Rev. Fr. Jerome Idebę, represented Archbishop Augustine Obiora Akubieze as the Chief Celebrant, concelebrated were some Diocesan Chaplains, including Catholic Nurses Guild of Ibadan Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Stephen Balogun, other Priests in the Archdiocese. Sister Advisers and some other Religious were also in attendance among whom was Rev. Sr. Vivian Ufuoma Dore {OLA}.

Nursing participants that came from Ibadan Province included Ibadan Archdiocese, Osogbo, Ekiti and Oyo Dioceses. Lagos Province had Lagos, Abeokuta and Ijebu-Ode and many Dioceses from all over the nation. 

In his homily, Fr. Jerome expressed his joy and appreciated Catholic Nurses Guild of Nigeria for all the good things they are doing in the Church and society at large.

He admonished all present especially the Nurses, to promote principles of Catholic Profession, which include: Sanctity of life {to uphold life from conception to natural death}, Respect of each person, Compassionate care, Justice, Quality of care {strive for excellence} and Stewardship {use resources responsibly & forestall collaboration}.

He advised that as health care workers {Nurses}, they should focus on repositioning nursing, to reframe from attitudes/behaviors that bring darkness, but to seek light, which once found should be spread to all colleagues and the world for good and excellent nursing practices.

Also to reposition Nursing for the betterment of all, body, mind and soul by serving whole human persons.

With the story of Martha and Mary, Fr. Jerome said as Nurses, they should choose the better part in healthcare delivery for the good of human body.

He said prudent integration of our faith in Nursing profession supports emotional care of patients in Christian way which extends beyond hospital environment.

In her speech, the President of CNGN, appreciated the Archbishop for accepting to host the event, all the Chaplains, Sister Advisers and all members of the Guild across Nigeria and all the invited guests.

She said the theme is not only timely, particularly at this time when technology has taken over the world. That it is a time to heal our relationship with one another, in our work places, families and society at large which is the directive of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, at this year's World Day of the Sick.

Launching of Nurses' Guild magazine, VOCANON was generously carried out by dignitaries, invited guests, Diocesan Guilds and individuals.

There were paper presentations among which included the lead paper by Prof. Fedelis Okafor.

Nr Theresa M Akem, in paper titled, Nursing in Contemporary Nigeria: Issues, trends and prospects, she defined Nursing as a profession that focused on assisting individuals, families and community to attain, recover and maintain optimum health and function from birth to old age.

She said Nursing is a blend of Science and Art, that has undergone dramatic changes in respect to societal needs and influences.

In another presentation by Dr. Mrs Josephine Oko-osa, “Artificial Intelligence {AI}in Healthcare Services : Impact on health and capacity building.” She described AI as not being human, but behavior is like human beings. She mentioned common tools like ChatGPT, Meta AI, Copilot, Grammarly.

She further stated AI tools in Healthcare, which are ... Diagnostic and imaging tools, Clinical decision support system {CDSS}.

Remote monitoring and wearable devices, current health, virtual health assistance and chatbots and AI in surgery and robotics.

In her paper presentation, “Nigerian Nurses, wounded healers, working with pain.” Associate Prof. Ngozi Osunde, talked about a Nurse having her own issues yet renders sacrifices/healing to her patients forgetting her own pain. She mentioned the attributes of a Nurse as having ... Empathy, Critical thinking, Communication, Time Management, Physical and Mental health, Advocacy.

“Insecurity and the biting Economic Realities in Nigeria.” Lady Mrs Ann I Owa, discussed the issue of insecurity and how it is affecting both individuals and the nation at large. This resulted in "Japa syndrome", that the citizens are afraid both at work and home.

This in turn affects the scale of production and services which invariably is affecting the economic system in the country, having gross impact on human persons, families and the society in general.