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Premier & Health Minister meet with striking ER nurses
According to reports, the Premier and Health Minister met the nurses on Monday, February 7, 2022, to listen to their grievances with the aim of finding a solution.
Protest continues until...
The Premier reportedly requested until Thursday to meet with the nurses again, as he was set to meet with officials of BVI Health Services Authority (BVIHSA) on the issue.
The nurses in the meantime are continuing the sickout protest that began on Friday, February 4, 2022.
“We are expecting to meet with them again on Thursday so we can decide on how we are going to proceed, based on what they bring back to the table,” one of the nurses on strike told our newsroom.
The nurses are requesting better working conditions, including more staff, salary revision, risk allowance and other benefits owed to them, such as increments and uniform allowance.
Our newsroom has been informed that some 20 nurses and auxiliary staff are on the sickout, forcing the hospital to pull nurses from other departments to fill the void.
One nurse highlighted to our newsroom that the patchwork is “risky” since nurses who are not "emergency trained" have been placed in the ER.
'Staff is just fed up'
Asked to respond to criticisms in some quarters that their action may be considered reckless and selfish, one of the nurses said the “staff is just fed up and they can’t take it anymore.”
“While we have a commitment to take care of people we have a commitment to take care of ourselves,” the source said, adding that staff in ER are working for $11.00 an hour. “Could they survive if they don’t have a friend or a friend of a friend…That is $1,700 a month and when you take out the tax you have about $1,300 left,” adding that once bills are paid there is nothing left.
“There has been no pay raise. Pay has been standard for years.”
It was also pointed out that there have been neither increments nor uniform allowance for years. “As a matter of fact, people took measurements for uniform ever so often that if they were to get the uniform now they wouldn’t fit.”
Overtime & risk allowance
One of the nurses explained that nurses in ER work for 12 hours and are only be paid for 8 hours overtime. They said that issue has been a sore point for years.
It was also pointed out that ER nurses do not get risk allowance, although the matter has long been raised.
“We stabalise and take care of every disease conditions that come in and the reality is just being in the presence of persons that come in can make you ill, because we don’t always know what conditions persons are presenting with. We are putting our lives and putting our families at risk daily but with nothing to show for it.”
Lack of supplies, adding that nurses can only wear two masks for the entire day, adding that this can result in spreading…
Staff burnt out
Further, the source said the ER staff are burnt out because the department is understaffed and there is always the need to call someone in on their day off.
Our newsroom was told that some 7 staff members from ER have resigned in recent months.
“Over time the increased workload, the pandemic, everything” has caused staff to say enough.
The ER nurses claimed that staff morale is “super low” because there is no respect or appreciation from the management of the hospital or Nursing Director despite being informed of the issues.
They also said no one from the hospital, including the Nursing Director, has reached out to see if there could be a resolution.
Efforts to reach the Nursing Director were unsuccessful up to the time of publication.
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17 Responses to “Premier & Health Minister meet with striking ER nurses”
I am sad that in what is recognised as the worst pandemic, covid-19, that we are experiencing a low level of unity in our health care services those that need health care services, especially in this time of another spike by the deadly virus: Covid-19.
I do sympertise with the striking nurses, and their struggle to get justice, but I think that at this time a sick out does little help.
Base in the need for nurses in All ommunities, and the needed services that they provide daily, I think that our Government leaders should see to it that all health-care nurses should be highly paid.
Due to the small salary that I read that some of them are paid, and other issues, I can understand their frustration. However, I hope that the meetings between the nurses, the Hon. Premier, Andrew Fahie and the Hon. Minister Carvin Maline would bring about a calming of nerves, a satisfactory conclusion soon, and normality will prevail over disunity. Amen. Praise the Lord.
Healthcare have been neglected and is bereft with poor management for years. From Ronnie days this has been happening.
Has the doctors of this facility come out in support of the nurses?
Is there a shortage of doctors and other health care professional to attend to patients on our islands?
Unfortunately, not every expat came here for money, many came to build BVI into a strong nation and to play our part in ensuring BVI becomes the best version of herself.