Not trying to be fussy, but…
as a Nigerian 🇳🇬 Registered Nurse,
the first time I ever held a mop at work
was when I started working in the UK 🇬🇧…
The thing shock me 😳😳😳😳…
Back home I never held a mop as a Registered Nurse, cos everyone had their roles 🤷🏻♀️… and it wasn’t part of my Nursing responsibilities.
In the operating theatre where I used to work in Nigeria 🇳🇬, we had health technicians, who set up the medical equipment: systems we use,,, and also turn them down when we were finished!
And…. cleaners who come in after the operation is over to ensure everywhere is professionally cleaned as that’s their own role.
____
Fast forward to 2019 when I came to the UK 🇬🇧,,, and on my first day in the operating theatre, we finished the first case on the list, and did our own damp dusting, then I asked how do we get the cleaners to come mop the floor???
Team leader; “Oh, we do that as well, we don’t have cleaners.
Me; You do??? You don’t have cleaners that come into the theatre to clean ??? 😳😳😳…
Team leader; Yeah, we don’t. Then she picked up the mop and started cleaning…
Me; runs to grab the mop from her…
________
Why was I shocked? Because I didn’t see that coming at all! I mean! This is UK 🇬🇧
___________
Back home, nursing school drilled one thing into us:
👉🏾 clinical judgment
👉🏾 patient care
👉🏾 professional boundaries
Here?
A Registered Nurse can be short-staffed, overwhelmed, and still expected to mop floors!!
_________________
This is NOT about being ‘too posh’ or ‘too proud’.
It’s about how healthcare systems define and respect NURSING roles.
My big question is,,, If a system trains nurses as clinicians…
why use them as cleaners???
And before anyone gets offended…
this post is NOT an attack on the UK 🇬🇧 or Nigeria 🇳🇬… obviously not…
But, It’s a conversation the nursing profession keeps avoiding.
If you’re a nurse (UK-trained or internationally trained):
👇🏾
Is this “normal teamwork”… or quiet role erosion?
What’s your own shocking experience within the healthcare system in UK 🇬🇧 compared to back home?
Let’s talk. 🔥
NurseMJ-
#NurseLife
@Onsogbu Yoruba!!!! we are known for working hard and with integrity, never to celebrate criminality. We went as far as questioning the source of wealth of our own president. No tribe in Nigeria can ever do that . God bless the Yoruba’s!!!!
Breaking : All the six Southwest Governors have unanimously adopted “Iṣẹ̀ wà fùń Ilẹ wá” song as Southwest (Yoruba) anthem, going forward.
To further shut up children of hate shouting Lagos no be Yoruba land