Covid-19: Nursing body worried by govt’s call to students, wants nurses to be hired

This weekrsquos central government notification asking nursing students to assist health workers in the second wave of the Covid19 pandemic has worried the nursing association which said a large number of experienced nurses still await their selection letters after having applied for regular vacancies at various civic and staterun hospitalsNurses on COVID duty at Sion hospital FileAshish RajeThe May 3 notification said besides MSc nursing students postbasic BSc N and postbasic diploma nursing students who are registered nursing officers final year GNM or BSc Nursing students awaiting final exam may also be given fulltime Covid19 duties at various governmentprivate facilities under the supervision of senior faculty ldquoThe services of allied health care professionals may be utilised for assistance in Covid19 management based on their training and certification The additional human resource thus mobilized will be used only in facilities managing Covid19rdquo the notification saidIt added that incentives will be given by way of priority in upcoming regular government recruitments after they complete a minimum of 100 days of Covid19 duty ldquoThe National Health Mission NHM norm for contractual human resource engagement by StatesUTs may be considered for implementation of the above proposed initiativerdquo the notification said adding ldquoA suitable honorarium for distinguished Covid Service may also be considered and medical studentsprofessionals sought to be engaged in Covid19 related work will be suitably vaccinated All health professionals thus engaged will be covered under the insurance scheme of government for health workers engaged in fighting Covid19 All such professionals who sign up for minimum 100 days of Covid19 duty and complete it successfully will also be given the Prime Ministerrsquos Distinguished Covid19 National Service SammanrdquoJibin TC working secretary and state president of UNAJibin TC working secretary and state president of the United Nurses Association UNA said ldquoA progressive state like Maharashtra is waiting to fill nearly 1500 posts of staff nurses and the situation is almost similar in other states where trained hands are awaiting job opportunities But the country is crying about shortage of nursing staff and opting to hire services of final year nursing students instead The UNA has around 25000 registered nurses within Maharashtra and around 550 lakh across the countryrdquoJibin cited a 2019 advertisement by Maharashtrarsquos health department for filling 1500 nursing posts for which he said 33000 applicants had responded A written exam was conducted on February 28 2021 but results are still not outldquoAnd the central government has now come up with a notification stating that finalyear medical students and nursing students can be used for assistance in Covid19 dutyrdquo he said ldquoWe are concerned about the Centrersquos ambiguous request The notification does not mention anything about these studentsrsquo actual role in the pandemic nor does it mention anything about their monthly emoluments or social security if they get infected during the course of duty Hiring students on contract is much cheaper than hiring experienced nurses for the state exchequer This is exploitation of labourrdquoJibin said if the proposal is to go through there should be proper guidelines for hospitals across the nation equal pay scales appropriate patientstaff ratio and social security to nurses and their families ldquoThe government should allocate a budget to recruit new nurses by filling vacant posts in all state and central hospitals We will meet the state government and approach the central ministry with our concernsrdquoDr TP Lahane director Directorate of Medical Education and Research who is also the Covid19 care Nodal Officer for Maharashtra was not available for comment till press time despite repeated attempts as he was in a highlevel meetingJohn Mukkathu Behanan Vice President of United Nurses Association UNA for Kerala said it was ironic that many qualified and experienced nurses are without a job in Kerala and the government is looking for final year students to work for Rs 565 a day ldquoAnd private hospitals in Kerala are hiring nurses for Covid19 care at Rs 50000 monthlyrdquoA staff nurse at a Covid19 ICU ward of a South Mumbai hospital said ldquoI am against the idea of hiring finalyear nursing students to assist medical staff on Covid19 duties For over a year these students have taken online classes and do not have practical exposure With the second wave setting in patient inflow is on the rise With hardly two to three nurses in Covid19 wards and ICUs every second is important The need of the hour is to appreciate and acknowledge the hard work done by the nursing staff Freshers are still paid peanuts Rs 27000month which after deductions come to around Rs 20000 Hiring their services on a monthly stipend of Rs 2000 or Rs 565day is demeaning the communityrdquoDr Santosh Kumar deputy medical superintendent at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College who headed a team of doctors and nurses from Kerala to Mumbai last year to work at Seven Hills Hospital said there was a shortage of staff nurses ldquoIn our medical college just last week we had a walkin interview to fill 150 posts of temporary nursing staff to handle Covid19 cases The contract was to be for two months and to our surprise more than 460 applicants including that of experienced nurses who had returned from foreign countries after they lost their job In metros the staff nurses hired for Covid19 duties were paid anywhere between Rs 30000 to Rs 40000 but today the fresh hiring of nurses is happening at a salary below last yearrsquos benchmark The situation is the same in Kerala where nurses were last year paid in the same range but a recent circular from the state has stated that nurses to be hired on temporary Covid19 duties will be paid only R565 per day for a 27day period This is why many staff nurses looking for work after graduation seek overseas opportunitiesrdquo