Nurses snub meeting to discuss sick-out

BY NADINE WILSON Observer staff reporter wilsonn@jamaicaobserver.com

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

THE Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) yesterday snubbed a request for an emergency meeting at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to discuss reports of nurses across the island going on sick-out.

The nurses were invited to a 1:00 pm meeting with representatives of the labour, health and finance ministries, along with persons from the public service and the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI).

The meeting was called in an effort to get all the groups "to arrive at an amicable settlement and restore normality to the health sector", the authorities said.

Following a meeting with its members late last month, the Edith Allwood Anderson-led NAJ said it would be stepping up its 'Public Education Agitation' campaign as it sought to secure "outstanding monies" owed to registered nurses. The group also wants the Government to fix a date for the implementation of the reclassification of nurses as was ruled by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal.

Yesterday, a number of registered nurses called in sick at health facilities across the island, resulting in extra pressure being placed on those who had turned up for work.

Chief Executive Officer of UHWI Dr Trevor McCartney said 20 of the 198 nurses scheduled for work at the hospital yesterday did not turn up, but pointed out that operations were not affected.

"Patient care was not compromised in any way because we made relevant movements of persons to ensure that we did not reduce our patient care," he said.

Dr McCartney said the hospital will be putting its contingency plans in place should the high level of absenteeism among the nurses continues.

At the Bustamante Hospital for Children, CEO Beverley Needham said only 34 of the 48 nurses rostered for work turned up yesterday. While the hospital was not adversely affected by the shortage, she said it would be introducing contingency plans if the industrial action persists.

"One of the things that we would normally do if this kind of situation were to continue is to start by looking at the patients that are well enough to go home, so we would start discharging patients to ensure that we don't have too many patients and not the requisite staff to take care of them," she said.

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Nurses snub meeting to discuss sick-out