Every year, the International Nurses Week celebrated between the 6th and 12 of May rolls around, and with it comes heartfelt tributes, flowers, and kind words honouring the compassion, resilience, and grit of nurses.
As someone who trained and worked as a nurse and now walks a different path in tech, I carry nursing in my bones. The call to care, the instinct to advocate, and the habit of putting others first never truly leave you. Even outside the hospital walls, I still feel the profession. I see it in my posture when someone needs help. I hear it in the urgency of my voice when something isn’t right. And I feel it in the quiet heartbreak of knowing nurses, especially in places like Nigeria, are still overworked, underpaid, and deeply undervalued.
The Unseen Weight
To be a nurse in Nigeria is to carry the world on your shoulders, with little support and even less recognition. It means being resourceful in broken systems, pushing through 12-hour shifts that stretch into 18, often with no running water, no light, no gloves, and still, no rest. It’s holding a patient’s hand during their final breath and then being expected to smile like nothing just broke inside you.
To be a nurse in Nigeria is to carry the world on your shoulders, with little support and even less recognition. It means being resourceful in broken systems, pushing through 12-hour shifts that stretch into 18, often with no running water, no light, no gloves, and still, no rest. It’s holding a patient’s hand during their final breath and then being expected to smile like nothing just broke inside you.
This isn’t just physical work. It’s emotional labour, spiritual endurance. and service, often without thanks. Yet, our voices are still muffled in decisions that shape our profession.
We Deserve More Than Kind Words
This year, let’s go beyond empty tributes and talk action. Ultimately, Nurses deserve better working conditions, fair pay, mental health support, a seat at the table where decisions are made and career development that includes non-traditional paths like health tech, policy, and innovation. Because we are more than our scrubs. We are leaders, builders, educators, founders, and we are the backbone of healthcare.
This year, let’s go beyond empty tributes and talk action. Ultimately, Nurses deserve better working conditions, fair pay, mental health support, a seat at the table where decisions are made and career development that includes non-traditional paths like health tech, policy, and innovation. Because we are more than our scrubs. We are leaders, builders, educators, founders, and we are the backbone of healthcare.
Why I Haven’t Let Go
I haven’t let go because I want to be a reminder, now and years to come, that there is more. More than exhaustion. More than invisible labour. More than being left out of conversations that shape your own profession. I want to see nurses in spaces that matter. In policy rooms. In leadership. In innovation. In tech. I want nurses to know they have the right to dream, to lead, and to thrive. Because we’re needed to actively be a part of this change!
I haven’t let go because I want to be a reminder, now and years to come, that there is more. More than exhaustion. More than invisible labour. More than being left out of conversations that shape your own profession. I want to see nurses in spaces that matter. In policy rooms. In leadership. In innovation. In tech. I want nurses to know they have the right to dream, to lead, and to thrive. Because we’re needed to actively be a part of this change!
Apart from bridging the gap between “care” and “code”, for me, it’s about something even deeper. It’s about bridging the gap between nurses and support, between nurses and safety, between having a voice and being in a place where muffling is the loudest sound you’re allowed to make. ~ Temitayo Olatunji, a nurse, tech enthusiast and journalist.
Little Drops Fill an Ocean
No act of support is too small. Whether it’s mentoring a fellow nurse, advocating for policy change, building platforms that amplify our voices, or simply checking in on a colleague after a long shift, it matters. Every act of kindness, advocacy, and courage is a drop that ripples through the profession.
No act of support is too small. Whether it’s mentoring a fellow nurse, advocating for policy change, building platforms that amplify our voices, or simply checking in on a colleague after a long shift, it matters. Every act of kindness, advocacy, and courage is a drop that ripples through the profession.
To every nurse reading this: the future of nursing is not only in the hands of leaders, it is in yours too. Keep learning. Speak up. Share opportunities. Recommend someone for that position or next promotion. Stand in solidarity when it’s uncomfortable. Be kind, even when you’re tired. Protect your peace and help others protect theirs. Push for better at your workplace, in your circles, and in yourself.
The system may be flawed, but we are not powerless. The change we want won’t happen overnight, but it will happen when we decide to make it happen, together. Because little drops? They make oceans.
To Healthcare Leaders & Organisation Owners: Do Better
I have seen and heard of healthcare tech companies where nurses and other healthcare professionals hold the same roles, perform the same tasks, and contribute equally to outcomes, yet nurses are paid significantly less. The justification? “Nurses are below others”. That mindset is outdated, discriminatory, and harmful. It seeps beyond the hospital wards into boardrooms and startups, breeding toxic hierarchies that undermine the value of nursing professionals.
I have seen and heard of healthcare tech companies where nurses and other healthcare professionals hold the same roles, perform the same tasks, and contribute equally to outcomes, yet nurses are paid significantly less. The justification? “Nurses are below others”. That mindset is outdated, discriminatory, and harmful. It seeps beyond the hospital wards into boardrooms and startups, breeding toxic hierarchies that undermine the value of nursing professionals.
There are hospitals where doctors’ lounges resemble the lobbies of five-star hotels, while nurses have no changing rooms, sleep on thin mats during breaks, and eat their meals under staircases. This isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about dignity. If you employ nurses, pay them what they deserve. Create environments where respect is mutual and the worth of every healthcare professional is acknowledged, not based on titles, but on contributions.
This International Nurses Week, I celebrate every nurse not just for what you do, but for who you are. And I commit to being part of the change, one drop at a time.
With love always,
A nurse at heart, building in tech.
A nurse at heart, building in tech.
