Stewardship: a conceptual imperative for managerial effectiveness in the Nigerian health system

Unacceptable health status indicators such as high infant and maternal mortality rates and low life expectancy have continued unabated inspite of government efforts to change it. This paper espouses the concept of stewardship as a selfless, ethical, cost effective and outcome oriented approach to governance. It is believed that through stewardship approach governments would improve the health status of their populations considerably. The paper implores not only government and health care managers but the Nigerian society also to imbibe the concept of stewardship to make the development of a result-oriented health system easy.KEY WORDS: Stewardship, Managerial Imperative, Nigeri

Questionnaire survey of working relationships between nurses and doctors in University Teaching Hospitals in Southern Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Smooth working relationships between nurses and doctors are necessary for efficient health care delivery. However, previous studies have shown that this is often absent with negative impact on the quality of health care delivery. In 2002, we studied factors that affect nurse-doctor working relationships in University Teaching Hospitals (UTH) in Southern Nigeria in order to characterize it and identify managerial and training needs that might be used to improve it. METHOD: Questionnaire survey of doctors and nurses working in four UTH in Southern Nigeria was done in 2002. The setting and subjects were selected by random sampling procedures. Information on factors in domains of work, union activities, personnel and hospital management were studied using closed and open-ended questionnaires. RESULTS: Nurse-doctor working relationships were statistically significantly affected by poor after-work social interaction, staff shortages, activist unionism, disregard for one's profession, and hospital management and government policies. In general, nurses had better opinion of doctors' work than doctors had about nurses' work. CONCLUSION: Working relationships between doctors and nurses need to be improved through improved training and better working conditions, creation of better working environment, use of alternative methods of conflict resolution and balanced hospital management and government policies. This will improve the retention of staff, job satisfaction and efficiency of health care delivery in Nigeria

Hazard experiences, protective facilities: Sanitation workers opinion compared in public and private organizations, Edo State, Nigeria

No Abstract.Tropical Journal of Health Sciences Vol. 15 (2) 2008: pp. 5-1

Knowledge, Attitude and Information Sources on HIV/AIDS Amongst Inmates of Two Prisons in Benin City, Nigeria

This survey of two prisons (Benin and Oko) compared the inmates for knowledge about HIV/AIDS, their attitude towards HIV patients and information sources on HIV/AIDS before and during imprisonment. The purpose was to identify the most effective means of information for reaching inmates in order to prevent HIV transmission in and out of prisons. Prisoners in Benin (169) prison had lower levels of knowledge about the modes of HIV transmission and less appropriate attitude towards HIV/AIDS patients than their counterparts (150) in Oko prison (P, 0.05). Generally, individuals had variable levels of knowledge about HIV/AIDS and their sources of information before imprisonment were considerably reduced during confinement. It is concluded that folklore and anxieties in society which largely contributed to inadequate knowledge and dispositions should continually be identified and targeted for replacement with scientific knowledge about HIV/AIDS through health education and socials awareness campaigns. Mary Slessor Journal of Medicine Vol.3(2) 2003:41-4