As many as 21,000 nurses went on an indefinite agitation Monday to get a charter of 26 demands accepted by the state government. The strike hit medical services across all district and rural hospitals in Maharashtra. Kamal Vaykole, general secretary of Maharashtra Government Nurses Federation, said, “We have written to the health ministry and also to the director of medical education. There are certain demands that need to be looked into by the state government.” The state has 23,000 nurses working in state-run facilities. The nursing staff in Aurangabad and Satara did not participate in the state-wide agitation. Vaykole said the 26 demands include a legislation exclusively to safeguard the rights of nursing staff. “If a nurse is at the receiving end of an angry relative of any patient, there is no Act for them to seek justice apart from the Indian Penal Code,” she said. The charter of demands also stated that a separate post for “director of nursing” must be sanctioned. “The nurses are regulated by medical education department and often their demands are side-tracked. If there is a director of nursing, more focus will be put on their well-being,” Vaykole added. The demands also included hike in salary, improved working environment for nurses and class IV employees and increased supervision in the hospitals. According to Indian Nursing Council’s recommendations, the nurse-patient ratio in a hospital should be 1:3 in any general ward and 1:1 in an intensive care unit (ICU). However, a nurse from state-run JJ hospital said, “There is a huge crunch of medical staff. In the ICU, instead of having one nurse for one patient, there are only three nurses for 12-15 patients admitted at any point of time.” From Mumbai, around 1,500 nurses participated in the protest, barring few who continued working on their daily shift. Dr J B Bhavani, medical superintendent at St Georges hospital, said, “The hospital did not face much problem today because 37 nurses had come to work and we could manage. However, 189 nurses were on strike. I am not sure if they will come tomorrow.” According to sources, a meeting will be held on Tuesday between the director of medical education and the health secretary to discuss the demands.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
With 26 demands, nurses go on state-wide indefinite strike
Source : http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/with-26-demands-nurses-go-on-state-wide-indefinite-strike/#sthash.Q4lUhBRM.dpuf
As many as 21,000 nurses went on an indefinite agitation Monday to get a charter of 26 demands accepted by the state government. The strike hit medical services across all district and rural hospitals in Maharashtra. Kamal Vaykole, general secretary of Maharashtra Government Nurses Federation, said, “We have written to the health ministry and also to the director of medical education. There are certain demands that need to be looked into by the state government.” The state has 23,000 nurses working in state-run facilities. The nursing staff in Aurangabad and Satara did not participate in the state-wide agitation. Vaykole said the 26 demands include a legislation exclusively to safeguard the rights of nursing staff. “If a nurse is at the receiving end of an angry relative of any patient, there is no Act for them to seek justice apart from the Indian Penal Code,” she said. The charter of demands also stated that a separate post for “director of nursing” must be sanctioned. “The nurses are regulated by medical education department and often their demands are side-tracked. If there is a director of nursing, more focus will be put on their well-being,” Vaykole added. The demands also included hike in salary, improved working environment for nurses and class IV employees and increased supervision in the hospitals. According to Indian Nursing Council’s recommendations, the nurse-patient ratio in a hospital should be 1:3 in any general ward and 1:1 in an intensive care unit (ICU). However, a nurse from state-run JJ hospital said, “There is a huge crunch of medical staff. In the ICU, instead of having one nurse for one patient, there are only three nurses for 12-15 patients admitted at any point of time.” From Mumbai, around 1,500 nurses participated in the protest, barring few who continued working on their daily shift. Dr J B Bhavani, medical superintendent at St Georges hospital, said, “The hospital did not face much problem today because 37 nurses had come to work and we could manage. However, 189 nurses were on strike. I am not sure if they will come tomorrow.” According to sources, a meeting will be held on Tuesday between the director of medical education and the health secretary to discuss the demands.
As many as 21,000 nurses went on an indefinite agitation Monday to get a charter of 26 demands accepted by the state government. The strike hit medical services across all district and rural hospitals in Maharashtra. Kamal Vaykole, general secretary of Maharashtra Government Nurses Federation, said, “We have written to the health ministry and also to the director of medical education. There are certain demands that need to be looked into by the state government.” The state has 23,000 nurses working in state-run facilities. The nursing staff in Aurangabad and Satara did not participate in the state-wide agitation. Vaykole said the 26 demands include a legislation exclusively to safeguard the rights of nursing staff. “If a nurse is at the receiving end of an angry relative of any patient, there is no Act for them to seek justice apart from the Indian Penal Code,” she said. The charter of demands also stated that a separate post for “director of nursing” must be sanctioned. “The nurses are regulated by medical education department and often their demands are side-tracked. If there is a director of nursing, more focus will be put on their well-being,” Vaykole added. The demands also included hike in salary, improved working environment for nurses and class IV employees and increased supervision in the hospitals. According to Indian Nursing Council’s recommendations, the nurse-patient ratio in a hospital should be 1:3 in any general ward and 1:1 in an intensive care unit (ICU). However, a nurse from state-run JJ hospital said, “There is a huge crunch of medical staff. In the ICU, instead of having one nurse for one patient, there are only three nurses for 12-15 patients admitted at any point of time.” From Mumbai, around 1,500 nurses participated in the protest, barring few who continued working on their daily shift. Dr J B Bhavani, medical superintendent at St Georges hospital, said, “The hospital did not face much problem today because 37 nurses had come to work and we could manage. However, 189 nurses were on strike. I am not sure if they will come tomorrow.” According to sources, a meeting will be held on Tuesday between the director of medical education and the health secretary to discuss the demands.
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