(MB FILE PHOTO) The Filipino Nurses United (FNU) said that government nurses "will no longer be demoted" after it triumphed against the "unjust demotion provision" of a circular from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) that supposedly affects their employment status. “Filipino Nurses Un
Image courtesy of St. Luke’s Medical Center.MA. MARTINA GERALDINE “Gigi” Q. Dimalibot, St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) chief nursing officer, has witnessed the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tragedy up close, albeit through multiple layers of personal protective equipment. Nurses like her spend their entire shift dressed in bunny suits, which, though life-saving, are uncomfortable and hot. The suit makes it difficult to breathe, she said.
(JANSEN ROMERO / MANILA BULLETIN / FILE)
Maristela Abenojar, President of Filipino Nurses United, said in an interview with Teleradyo on Tuesday, May 12, nurses in public hospitals have yet to receive a starting wage of Salary Grade 15 or 32,000.
Contractual or job order nurses, meanwhile, are only paid 22,000 per month. Nurses in private hospitals earn the minimum, said Abenojar.
“Ang pasahod sa ating bansa ay hindi sumasapat sa pangangailangan ng ating nurses at ng kanilang mga pamilya (Wages in our country do not meet the needs of our nurses and their families),” she added.
“Bukod sa matinding kapaguran na dinarana ng ating mga nurses, sila rin po ay demoraloized na. Kaya po ang iba ay nakakaisip mag-resign, ang iba ay lumipat ng trabaho kasi hindi nila nararamdaman na mahalaga sila sa ating pamahalaan at sila ay binibigyan ng sapat na pagkalinga o suporta (Apart from the exhaustion our nurses experience, they also feel demoralized. That’s why some think of resigning,
(Angel Garcia/Bloomberg)
In an interview over DZMM on Sunday, April 25, Filipino Nurses United (FNU) secretary general Jocelyn Andamo said health workers remain overworked and overwhelmed as many hospitals are still understaffed.
“Yung isang room na dapat isa, dalawang pasyente lang ay naging apat. Nag-oopen po ng mga ward para sa COVID pero wala pong kaakibat na dagdag na nursing staff kaya po yung panawagan namin nung isang taon pa po ay merong mass hiring na libo-libo, (We have one room that can only accommodate one to two patients, but is currently used by four patients. Hospitals also opened more COVID-19 wards but the problem is we still lack additional nursing staff. That has been our appeal since last year, hire thousands of nurses)” Andamo said.
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 14) The Department of Health is ready to assist hospitals in ensuring compliance with their order on conducting regular COVID-19 tests for their health workers, an official said Wednesday.
In an interview with CNN Philippines The Source, Health Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire clarified the testing protocols being imposed by the government to ensure the safety of health workers while attending to COVID-19 patients.
Vergeire said the Health Department will seek ways to assist hospitals in ramping up testing after she acknowledged their financial limitations due to the pandemic. We are going to check on this and we will try to assist hospitals so they may be able to give that protection to health workers, Vergeire said.