Joy Austin is a Nigerian-Canadian United States-based family and internal medicine nurse practitioner. She is a licensed nurse in the US and Canada, and practises in both countries. She also runs a healthcare blog and provides medically supervised weight loss services. In this interview by Kingsley Alumona, she speaks about her work and the Nigerian healthcare system.
What was life and work like in Nigeria after your university education?
I did not have the opportunity to work in Nigeria after my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme. My father sent me to Canada to further my education and improve my life right after my NYSC.
What circumstances motivated you to travel out of Nigeria?
It was my father’s idea. He wanted all his children to obtain international degrees after their first degrees in Nigeria. He started making my travel plans in my final year in the university.
What was life like in your first year in Canada?
I relocated to Canada in 2000. My first year in Canada was depressing because I never left home or had the opportunity to experience life outside of my parents. Everything was shocking for me. I called my dad every day and cried because I had to take the bus. Now, I look back and laugh. I had to start everything from the scratch even though my first degree in microbiology helped a lot.
After your first degree in microbiology in Nigeria, why did you decide to study Nursing?
I planned to go to medical school in Canada. I started the journey to get into medical school but had to divert to nursing because I could not meet the requirements to get into medical school in Ontario, Canada, at that time. Nursing was my last resort. I am glad I chose nursing. I cannot deny that nursing has been a very rewarding and fulfilling career for me.
Which aspect(s) of nursing do you major in?
I am a family nurse practitioner. I major in family practice, under which I currently provide medically supervised weight-loss services and obesity treatment. I am also an emergency room and internal medicine nurse practitioner.
I find preventative medicine in primary care most fulfilling because of my father. My father died of preventable heart disease because he did not know he was predisposed. Primary care medicine is preventative and helps to manage risk and reduce mortality of those who are predisposed, like my father. I do not want others to experience what happened to my father. He laboured and worked very hard for his children, and gave us the best life ever, but did not live long enough to reap the fruit of his labour.
A lot of Nigerian men still live like my dad today. They labour for their children, siblings, and wives without taking care of themselves, like having annual doctor’s check-ups. The same goes for Nigerian women as well.
The life expectancy in Nigeria, according to the World Bank data, is 53 years.
What does medical weight loss entail and what are its benefits?
Medically-assisted weight loss is the use of medication, meal planning, and coaching to assist in weight loss. It also entails the management of the side effects of weight loss medicines. The medications can be oral or injections.
Obesity is a substantial health crisis in many parts of the world, including our country Nigeria. Obesity can lead to respiratory illnesses like sleep apnea and obesity hypoventilation syndrome. Studies show that obesity is associated with certain cancers. Depression and stigmatisation have also been linked to obesity. Hypertension, obesity-associated cardiomyopathy, and cardiovascular disease have been linked with obesity.
Obesity can affect anyone including pregnant women. Obesity in pregnancy can lead to hypertension and pelvic dystocia. It can also increase surgical risk and cause post-operative complications. It can lead to diabetes type 2, high cholesterol, infertility, cellulitis (skin infection), lymphatic edema, difficulty walking and difficulty maintaining personal hygiene.
Maintaining a healthy weight helps to prevent chronic illnesses.
Over the years, you have been practising nursing in the United States and Canada. How do you manage the stress and the legal demands associated with practising in these countries?
I have a rule of thumb that helped me through the years, and it is: ‘Do not cut corners’. I follow due process as much as possible. I ask questions when I do not understand or have little knowledge about anything. I constantly develop myself and my career through continuing education. I am always in school. There is no time I am not registered in one course or the other. I pay for knowledge. It is my priority.
I take care of my mental health by maintaining healthy and meaningful relationships. I do not take on more than I can handle. I try to mind my business as much as I can. I stay away from the crowd and plan anything I want to do way ahead of time. I love process. I stay away from anything that does not have a process. I have learnt to embrace process and critical thinking throughout my career.
How often do you visit Nigeria?
I have not visited Nigeria very often in the past because 95 per cent of my family members live overseas. I last visited in 2019.
When you visit Nigeria, how does the state of the health sector and hospitals make you feel?
I spent most of my teenage years in the hospital while growing up in Nigeria. Looking back, I think we need to invest in preventative medicine and training of nursing staff, especially when it comes to the nurse-patient relationship. I think that Nigerian healthcare professionals are intelligent and knowledgeable.
Nurses are paid better in foreign countries than in Nigeria, and that is why almost every registered Nigerian nurse wants to leave Nigeria. What advice could you give to such nurses?
I think the nurses should go to where they are valued and more compensated. The government needs to do better with healthcare workers. They would not leave if they were well compensated. Nobody wants to be where they are not valued or respected.
I think it would benefit Nigeria because many of the people who left may come back home to contribute immensely to the Nigerian healthcare system through the knowledge and skills they acquired while working overseas.
How have you been contributing to the development of the health sector of the state you come from in Nigeria?
I started a healthcare blog in 2015. I taught about common diseases, symptoms, and management. I stopped for a while because I started pursuing my master’s and family nurse practitioner degree. I resumed the teachings again last year on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube where I create awareness about personal health care. My Facebook page is ‘Your health your wealth’ or Joy Omon. I also teach on Instagram at Joy Omon4743. My YouTube channel is Healthfirstaf.
I am also working with some other healthcare practitioners on bringing affordable healthcare to Nigerians. We are starting with Benin City, where we already have infrastructure on the ground and preparing to launch.
If you were the minister of health, how would you restructure the Nigerian health sector and make it on par with what is obtainable in the United States and Canada?
I think it is a possibility. I have worked in impoverished communities in the middle of nowhere in Canada. The medical team was able to provide affordable and effective health care most of the time.
Nigeria has a lot of poor people who cannot afford health care. If I were the minister of health, I would invest in a universal healthcare system, primary healthcare, preventative medicine, and compensation of medical staff.
People live long in civilised countries because of primary health care. Prevention is always less expensive and more effective than cure. Emergency medical services is another area I would invest in if I were the minister of health. When a person encounters a medical emergency in Nigeria, it takes the grace of God for that person to survive as compared to countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, and the USA.
Affordable critical care and cardiac medicine are other areas I think Nigeria is lagging. No nation on earth should be without adequate critical and cardiac care units. According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular diseases account for more than 10 percent of deaths in Nigeria, and 30.6 percent of Nigerians have hypertension of which some are not aware that they are living with hypertension.
I have a family member in his 50s, who recently relocated to North America. He found out that he had been living with hypertension on his first doctor’s visit. He confessed that he had never checked his blood pressure.
There should be organised programmes and campaigns to create health awareness for the average Nigerian. Health literacy is an aspect I think the average Nigerian is lagging. We are very religious and superstitious people. Many of our people believe that every misfortune, including health issues, is caused by witches in the village or the devil. Imagine somebody that has a wound that is difficult to heal blaming his or her fellow villager for making him step on a deadly charm. Meanwhile, wounds that do not heal, especially leg wounds, may be caused by diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, or poor circulation.
Your work comes with challenges and stress. How does your family, especially your husband, help you in this regard?
I will not say I get stressed with my job. I love and enjoy every bit of what I do. I also try to find a balance by taking time to rest. Like I said, I try not to take on more than I could chew. I believe in the quality of life. I try to give my life quality by balancing work, family time, leisure, and rest.
My husband is very supportive of my career and goals. My children are older and already in the university.
ALSO READ: 2024 UTME: JAMB begins exams for over 1.9 million candidates
Source: