International Day of Nurses observed
Trainees pay tribute to seniors’ dedication and service at Nishtar Hospital
PHOTO: REUTERS
MULTAN:
On the international day of nurses, trainee nurses on Tuesday paid tribute to the nurses performing their duties in Covid-19 wards of Nishtar Hospital, especially to the seven nurses who have tested coronavirus positive.
Severe shortage of nurses has been reported in Nishtar Hospital as the facility battles the pandemic with limited resources.
Owing to the ongoing health emergency, no special event was held to acknowledge the services rendered by them on the World Nurses Day.
Saima Yameen, Naurin, Shamim and other officials of the Young Nurses Association said the day brings a lot of hope for the nursing community, especially since 2020 had been declared the year of nurses by World Health Organisation (WHO) and the president of Pakistan.
Reportedly, the number of nurses at Nishtar Hospital is 502, thus there is an extremely low nurses to patient ratio.
The hospital has a 1,700-bed capacity whereas 2,300 to 2,400 patients are admitted there these days.
The government has altered the patient and nurse ratio criteria set by the WHO, but even then, according to government’s own assessment, there is a shortage of 423 nurses at the hospital.
Moreover, lack of promotion also mars the esteem of nursing staff at the facility. Nurses appointed in 1997 are still waiting for promotion despite a lapse of 23 years. Now they are close to their age of retirement.
Despite giving precious years to the privileged profession, no promotion policy has been outlined for them.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2020.
On the international day of nurses, trainee nurses on Tuesday paid tribute to the nurses performing their duties in Covid-19 wards of Nishtar Hospital, especially to the seven nurses who have tested coronavirus positive.
Severe shortage of nurses has been reported in Nishtar Hospital as the facility battles the pandemic with limited resources.
Owing to the ongoing health emergency, no special event was held to acknowledge the services rendered by them on the World Nurses Day.
Saima Yameen, Naurin, Shamim and other officials of the Young Nurses Association said the day brings a lot of hope for the nursing community, especially since 2020 had been declared the year of nurses by World Health Organisation (WHO) and the president of Pakistan.
Reportedly, the number of nurses at Nishtar Hospital is 502, thus there is an extremely low nurses to patient ratio.
The hospital has a 1,700-bed capacity whereas 2,300 to 2,400 patients are admitted there these days.
The government has altered the patient and nurse ratio criteria set by the WHO, but even then, according to government’s own assessment, there is a shortage of 423 nurses at the hospital.
Moreover, lack of promotion also mars the esteem of nursing staff at the facility. Nurses appointed in 1997 are still waiting for promotion despite a lapse of 23 years. Now they are close to their age of retirement.
Despite giving precious years to the privileged profession, no promotion policy has been outlined for them.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2020.