Nursing is one of the few Nigerian professions where demand reliably exceeds supply — and where the paperwork, not the interview, is usually what decides the outcome. Hospitals cannot put an unlicensed nurse on a ward, so the licence check happens before anyone reads your experience.
The three things every employer checks
- 1Current NMCN licence. The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria licence is renewed annually. A lapsed licence is an automatic no, however strong the CV.
- 2RN, and RM if you have it. Registered Nurse is the baseline. Registered Midwife opens maternity and most private hospital roles — and it is usually paid more.
- 3Your certificates, physically. Most Nigerian hospitals will ask to see the originals at interview, not just photocopies.
Private versus public: what the pay actually looks like
Private hospitals in Lagos and Abuja typically advertise ₦120,000 to ₦250,000 a month for a staff nurse, with the top of that band in the bigger specialist hospitals. Public sector pay is set by the consolidated health salary structure and is usually lower on basic — but stronger on pension, job security and progression.
- Private: faster hiring, more shift pressure, sometimes no HMO, often paid on time.
- Public: slower recruitment through the state or federal health service, better pension, stronger union protection.
- International recruitment agencies: real, but only engage ones that can show you the destination hospital and the visa route in writing.
What the interview actually tests
Nigerian nursing interviews are clinical, not conversational. Expect a matron or senior nurse to ask you to walk through a scenario: a patient with a sudden drop in blood pressure, a post-operative wound that looks wrong, a mother bleeding after delivery.
Answer in order and out loud: what you see, what you check first, who you call, what you document. The structure matters as much as the clinical content, because it shows you will not freeze on a ward at 2am.
“First I would assess the patient — observations, conscious level, and
the specific signs you mentioned.
Then I would escalate to the nurse in charge and the doctor on call,
following the hospital's escalation protocol.
While waiting I would start the interventions within my scope —
positioning, oxygen, IV access if trained and authorised.
And I would document the time of each observation and each action.”
If you are newly qualified
Apply to hospitals that run a structured internship or a preceptorship, even at lower pay. Eighteen months of supervised ward work is worth more than two years of unpaid applications, and it is what the next employer is really asking about when they say “experience”.
Put your clinical rotations on the CV under a heading called Clinical Experience — the ward, the hospital, the months, and the procedures you performed unsupervised by the end. That reads as experience, because it is.
Your first ninety days on a ward
Most Nigerian hospitals run twelve-hour shifts — 7am to 7pm, or the reverse — with a handover at the change. The first month is mostly about surviving that rhythm: learning where the drug cupboard keys are, who signs for controlled drugs, which consultant wants vitals before 8am. New nurses who struggle are rarely struggling with clinical knowledge. They are struggling with documentation, because a ward round that is not written down did not happen.
Do the drug round with a second nurse even when the policy only requires it for controlled drugs. Count the stock at the start and end of every shift. Write your notes as you go, not at 6.45pm. These three habits will keep you out of the only kind of trouble that ends a nursing career early: a record that does not match what actually happened to the patient.
- Ask about HMO cover in the interview, not after you resume. It is the benefit nurses use most and the one hospitals quietly leave out.
- Ask who pays for indemnity insurance, uniform replacement and laundry. In some hospitals it is deducted from your salary.
- Ask about the overtime rate and how it is approved. Many private hospitals pay a flat shift rate with no overtime at all.
- Ask whether accommodation is bonded. Free staff quarters often come with a twelve-month commitment and a deduction if you leave early.