The Director of Nursing services in Rivers state Mrs. Elizabeth Sika has urged nurses to be opened minded and versatile.

Speaking during a courtesy visit by the team lead of Nursingworld Nigeria, Mrs. Sika decried the non-representation of registered nurses working in the private setting, their lack and unwillingness to be proactive and assertive.

As part of her tireless efforts to uplift the standard and ethics of the Nursing Profession and give it a sense of direction in Rivers State, She highlighted her membership in the committee inaugurated to review some health laws in the state, she said the terms of the committee are to review and make recommendations to the following laws/bills Rivers State Public Health Law of 1999, Rivers State College of Health Science and Technology Law No. 3 of 2001, Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board Law No. 10 of 2010, The Draft Rivers State College of Nursing Bill 2012, Rivers State Hospitals Management Board Edit of 1991, The Draft Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital Bill 2011, The Rivers State Health & Allied Establishments Regulatory Authority Law No. 5 of 2000 (to be reviewed and incorporated into Public Health Law). 

She categorically debunked rumors that the nursing and midwifery council was still approving licenses to establish new schools of nursing while noting that the ban on new schools of nursing has been in effect for over three years.  She also hinted on the proposed plan to move nursing education and training to the collegiate level by 2015.

On the backlog of candidates on the queue for the mandatory continuous preparatory programs, she promised that serious efforts, in collaboration with the nursing and midwifery council of Nigeria are being made to rectify the situation and promised to, in line with the current ICT drive of the Ebele Goodluck Jonathan administration, tinker with the idea of an online 'registration' portal for the MCPDP program to reduce the burden and inconvenience on nurses.

She praised the efforts of the Nursingworld Nigeria team and commended the educational and resourceful website they have put in place for the benefit of nurses. She promised to open up correspondence with NWN for effective information dissemination to registered nurses and the general public thru the use of the Nursingworld Nigeria e-media website.