Clad in white: Neglected nurses to observe International Nurses Day without much fanfare

Two days before the commemoration, TMO assaults nurse at HMC, leading to the doctor’s suspension.

PESHAWAR:

Ghazala, a 32-year-old nurse at Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), was busy at work Saturday night when she asked a sleeping trainee medical officer (TMO) for help. Little did she know, she was in for a violent reaction from him.

The attack took place just two nights before International Nurses Day, which is being observed today (Monday). This day is celebrated to honour nurses for their services and also marks the birthday of Florence Nightingale.

Though not the first of its kind, the incident was the last straw for the already ill-treated nurses who are harassed almost every day at public sector hospitals across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, said Nurses Association Provincial President Farukh Jalil.

According to Jalil, Dr Yaseen Khan was sleeping on the job inside the intensive care unit. When Ghazala, a nurse, went to ask him to tend to a patient who was in a critical condition, he refused. Ghazala told the patient’s relatives she informed the doctor but he is sleeping.

When the TMO came to know of this, he went to Ghazala and started beating her. The nurse sustained injuries on her head and arms. An FIR has been filed against him.

Later, HMC nurses protested outside the hospital, demanding the doctor be held accountable for his actions. The HMC security officer, Syed Muhammad Umer, said the hospital will launch an enquiry against the now suspended doctor on Monday.

An abusive relationship

“These things happen routinely but we try to tackle the situation the best we can,” said Umer. A high-level meeting will be held where the hospital authorities will discuss the issue, he added.

“All I did was tell the doctor about the patient. He (the patient) was in critical condition and his relatives were disturbing everyone at the hospital,” Ghazala told The Express Tribune. “Here, the doctors treat us like their slaves.”

This is not only Ghazala’s tale, but the whole province’s where at least 3,932 nurses work in various public sector hospitals and are deprived of even the basic service structure.

Former health minister Shaukat Yousafzai had promised a service structure for the nurses within the first three months of the current year, said Jalil. “Doctors have been regularised but no consideration has been given to nurses’ problems.”

Of the total number of nurses, 1,270 are student nurses who still receive a meagre salary of Rs3,565 per month. Their uniform and accommodation allowance has been pending for the last six months.

“The file is still lying in the chief minister’s office for him to sign.” Their promotion has been halted while the position of chief nurses has been lying vacant at HMC, Lady Reading Hospital, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Bacha Khan Medical Complex, and District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Mardan, DI Khan, Kohat and Bannu, added the association’s provincial president.

“In other countries, a doctor’s schedule is decided by the nurses, they cannot check patients without the on-call nurse’s permission,” said Jalil. “Here, it’s quite the opposite. The nurses are treated like they are the doctors’ personal help.”

The association has planned to go on a strike from May 20 for an indefinite period, till their demands are met.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2014.