With the protesting 170 contract nurses and 20 contract lab technicians in the State-run Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology intensifying their strike from Tuesday, the other nurses on permanent rolls are under pressure to work overtime and each nurse is forced to attend to at least four patients.
Although the institute has enrolled nursing students from other government hospitals and institutions to make up for the shortage, the regular nurses said it is of no use as patients in the institute need specialised care in which the students are not trained.
The contract nurses, who have been protesting since March 13, started hunger strike from Tuesday. “We have worked here for 8-10 years and our contracts are not being renewed with an intention to phase us out from the institute. Although we met the Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Education Department, V. Manjula, and apprised her of our problems, she said as per rules our services cannot be regularised. We have to apply again and get recruited through the Karnataka Nursing Paramedical Board, which is not possible as Monday was the last date to apply,” said Ningappa, president of Karnataka Independent Nurses’ Association. He said the nurses will continue their strike till their demand is met.
The hospital has been witnessing queues of patients waiting for chemotherapy and other specialised treatment for the past one week. “Owing to the protest, regular nurses are working without taking a break. But we cannot continue working under extreme pressure. When we complained about this to Director K.B. Linge Gowda, he asked us to resign. Is this possible after working here for more than 30 years,” said a staff nurse.
However, Dr. Gowda claimed the hospital was functioning as usual without any hiccups. “We have brought nurses from other hospitals and nursing colleges to assist the regular staff. The strike has no cause of action as none of the existing trainee nursing staff or technicians have been retrenched,” he said.
