The School

By David Oseghale (Current President Student Body Union in Nigeria 2009) and Mrs C.N. Omage (The Principal/Deputy Director Nursing Education in Nigeria)

The school was established to educate students both in theory and practice with a view to their becoming registered Nurses and to set their feet on the right path to becoming good leaders in the Nursing profession.

The School of Nursing, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, is located in Benin City, which is in Edo State, in the country of Nigeria. The School was officially opened on 12th May 1973 by Mrs. Victoria Gowon with an initial intake of 22 students in July 1973. The first two sets of student Nurses (total of 45) graduated in December 1976 and May 1977 respectively with the school scoring 100% on the National Council Qualifying examination on each occasion.

The first Principal of the school was Miss J.C. Cross, who died after a brief illness while on leave after being in office from 1973-1975.

The first indigenous Principal was Mrs B.A. Egbon: 1975-1997; who served until her retirement in 1997.

Mrs M.N.Ekhaguere took over in 1997 and retired in 2006.
Mrs C.N. Omage took over in 2006 and retired in 2010.
The current principal is Mrs Stella Ochei who took over 2010.

We believe that this post secondary institution prepares students in their basic program in nursing and this serves as a foundation for the future growth and development in their chosen field.The majority of the students are adolescents; therefore we cater for their physical, psychological, social, and religious needs so that they can develop into healthy and dependable adults. To achieve this, we organize purposeful extra curricular activities which guide them in their development into a culturally accepted adults being conscious of their civil responsibilities.There is awareness of the differences in social background and past experiences among the students therefore, the School help to guide and challenge the students in achieving their optimum potentials.The curriculum is service oriented in other to meet the standard specified by the Nursing Council of Nigeria; and needs of the hospital structure so that both nursing service and education will work hand in hand to give the students the required background.The curriculum is also based on the wealth of knowledge derived from the fields of natural and social sciences, psychology and education with a view to meeting the cultural and health needs of the community.A library is provided and students are shown how to make beneficial use of it to enhance self development and further education.We encourage active students’ participation, insightful learning and creativity so that the products of this program can practice nursing at professionally accepted standards.Students are taught to appreciate the importance of attending National and International conferences, symposia, seminars and workshops in order to bring them up to date with trends and development in all fields especially nursing worldwide.We render unique nursing service to the individual, family and community irrespective of social class or race.

The Principal Officers:
1.  The Principal/D.D.N.E (Deputy Director Nursing Education)
2.  The Vice Principal/C.N.T. Administration.
3.  The Chief Nurse Tutor in charge of Academics.
4.  The Chief Nurse Tutor in charge of Clinicals.
5.  Teaching Teams for various specialties.
6.  The confidential secretary and administrative staff. 

SECTIONS: For easy administration, the school is subdivided into the following:
1. Administration:  This takes care of general administration of the school. This is headed by the Principal of the school and supported by the Vice Principal Admin.
2. Academics:  This takes care of the academic programs of the school, the curriculum, examinations and academic records.
3. Clinicals:  This takes care of clinical postings and experiences of the students in addition to the above.

Duration of Study:  The school program runs for 3 years for straight coursers and 18 months for short coursers, Post Registration Midwives, Post Registered Psychiatric Nurses. 

The overall objective is based on the philosophy of the school:
To prepare students to provide safe nursing service and create avenues whereby the students can express their autonomy, recognize and improve their limitations.
To appreciate the background and past experiences of the individual students and to adapt different teaching methods that would be beneficial to the students.
To teach students those subjects that are pertinent to Nursing Practice and provide learning experiences that would enhance their adaptability to the changing needs of the society.
To acquaint the students with the structure and educational pattern set by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria and that of the training hospital.  
To encourage the students to be creative, assertive, and personally committed to the learning situation.
To educate the students to be appreciative of the mutual respect for the worth and dignity of man in the provision of Nursing Services.
To provide extra curricular activities which promote the physical, social, and emotional growth of students.
To inculcate in the students an appreciation of the need to make use of the library resources and attend educational conferences which will broaden their professional and intellectual outlook.