The Ondo State Government, has warned private hospitals in the state to stop training nurses and midwives, as they had no legal right to do so.

Dr Taiye Oni, the Permanent Secretary, Ondo State Ministry of Health, gave this warning while monitoring the entrance examination into the Ondo State School of Nursing and Midwifery for the 2017/2018 session in Akure.

Oni noted that such training by the private hospitals was contributing to some sharp practices by some actors in the state health sector.

He said the State Government would not allow the trend to continue but nip it in the bud so as to ensure quality health service delivery in line with the agenda of the present administration.

The Permanent Secretary said that with the new policy of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, most Schools of Nursing and Midwifery would now award Higher National Diploma and degree certificates.

He disclosed that the state School of Nursing and Midwifery would soon be upgraded to a degree awarding institution.

Oni, therefore, lauded the management of the school for conducting a credible entrance examination for the 1,600 candidates seeking admission into the 50 available spaces.

Also speaking, the Director, Department of  Nursing Services of the ministry, Mrs Alice Ogundele, observed that nurses, were in high demand around the world to deliver high quality health care.

Ogundele said most countries of the world including Nigeria, had not been able to meet the specified ratio 1 nurse to 4 patients in a ward, hence the high demand continued.

In her remarks, the principal of the school, Mrs Idowu Edward, said the school had carved out a niche for itself by the performance of its students in external examinations, which had not been less than 95 per cent at any point in time.

Edward said the nursing profession had improved in quality and were in higher demand than before, as  the population increased.

According to her, students will be admitted strictly on merit in order to enhance the future of the profession.

Two of the candidates that wrote the examination, Miss Adeniran Funke and Miss Adekola Joshua, said they developed passion for the nursing career, being a compassionate and life-saving profession.