"Let's talk it through" by Okpala Njideka

Hi Njideka, 

Welcome to Nurse's nuggets and career information. You have an organization called "Let's talk it through". May we know what it means.

"Let's talk it through" is in the process of becoming a Non-profit organization (NGO) . I am establishing this NGO to give free counselling sessions for persons of all ages suffering from depression. It was established by bringing together a group of seasoned counselors to work with me. 

Amazing work. Depression and mental illness does not seem to be getting the attention it needs to get in Nigeria. At the moment we recognize that you cannot physically meet with clients, so how do you carry this task out?

We create webinars, creating awareness and enlightening people on the dangers of depression and practical ways to deal with it. 

The NGO is also into training of mothers caring for children living with physical disability in Nigeria.

I tutor them on practical ways on raising children with disabilities and how to cope with the overwhelming challenges that come with this responsibility.

This is thoughtful and also often neglected by the health system. And your NGO has highlighted the need to care for carers. So If  these moms wants to access this service that you offer, how will they go about it?

I create webinars and I teach moms or caregivers. They can also send emails too. Though at the moment, I am revitalizing the page where I have consistent training sessions and question and answer for client.

I belong to a group called 'super parents'.  And have been teaching on the care of persons with disabilities on that platform. The pain most Nigerian women go through caring for children with disabilities is overwhelming. Their challenges range from  lack of knowledge; to lack of support and amenities to cope with these challenges. 

My greatest drive is the pain I get when I see what these super mom's go through, raising a child with disability with no support from anywhere! This sometimes becomes too much. In developed countries, there have huge social and psychological support, yet it is not enough. My main purpose is to empower these women with knowledge, provide free counseling services where needed and God helping me with my little influence call on the public and Government to come to their aid! There are no special needs schools, occupational therapy and physiotherapy services available, some of the children require special wheel chair and so on. I can't just say so much but certainly I believe that Fairness and Living is a right for every one!

What has been your work experience from the time you graduated till now?

I graduated from nursing in 2007. Worked in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) , emergency room and orthopedic unit until I moved to Ireland. 

Often I get questions that I could not answer, and so I had to do a lot of self development in the area of persons with disabilities The joy I have brought to some of these women is overwhelming so I decided to go fully into this. My dear, the truth is nurses have so much work to do, especially in Nigeria. We have the power to change the health system as it is often said that nurses are the heart of  health care.

Do you think Covid-19 pandemic will have impact on mental health of health care professionals and also the public in Nigeria?

Absolutely, This is why I want to be focusing on this at this challenging times, helping the public to be  aware and encouraging them to speak out and seek for help. A lot of nurses lost their jobs in Nigeria. I am gathering that data especially in private hospitals. They were sacked when they insisted on having proper PPEs to enable them discharge their duties safely. This is one of the reasons we are encouraging nurses to look outside the box.

In the past few years we have seen trending stories of suicide, people drowning in the bridge due to frustration. This isn't normal and we can't pretend there is no problem. Depression is real! With the birth of covid, people are losing their jobs thereby inflicting hardship in Nigeria. It is obvious that the rate of depression and mental instability will skyrocket. Therefore we have to mitigate these things by providing professional counseling sessions, helping people to understand practical way of dealing with these problems.

Thank you so much Njideka. If you wish to contact her for services please leave a comment below and also follow her page on facebook. It is "Let's talk it through".