Malam Yunusa Zarumai, the Chief Nursing Officer of the Eye Centre at Minna General Hospital, says the centre needs more ophthalmology nurses to provide services to its large number of patients.
Zarumai made this known in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria in Minna on Saturday.
“We are calling on the state government to recruit more ophthalmology nurses so that we can serve the teeming populace better,” he said.
He said that the eye centre attends to more than 500 patients every week, adding that Mondays and Wednesdays were appointment days.
Zarumai explained that the eye nurses use their technical know-how to see that their patients received adequate attention in spite of the dearth of manpower.
He said: “We receive patients beyond Niger State.
“We receive patients from Kogi, Kaduna, Kwara and Kebbi States among others.
“Our experience, expertise and efficiency has given us integrity in spite of the fact that they may have eye centres from where they are coming from.
“Because of our services, patients from neighbouring states besiege our hospital for eye treatment and surgery.”
Zarumai said the influx of patients to the eye centre was as a result of awareness the officials had created on the available services through sensitisation of residents at the grassroots.
He said: “We are improving on daily basis.
“The number of patients coming in here is really alarming.
“We are striving to manage the challenges and that is why we have asked patients to visit the eye centre aside official days of Mondays and Wednesdays just to see that every eye patient is attended to.”
NAN.