Nurses’ agitation: No response from govt, no health work

• Medical operations on hold
• Contract nurses, student-nurses called in as stand-in

Our Correspondent
Mokokchung, June 29

Forty eight staff nurses from the two main hospitals in Mokokchung town are participating in the second phase of the agitation called by the Nagaland Staff Nurses’ Association from Monday.
Joining in with the staff nurses from across Nagaland, thirty six staff nurses from the Imkongliba Memorial District Hospital (IMDH) and twelve staff nurses from the TB Hospital of Mokokchung have taken mass casual leave and have abstained from duty from June 29.Interacting with media persons an agitating staff nurse from IMDH said, “We have joined in the first phase of the agitation and wore black badges for three days. This is the second phase and we will be availing three day mass casual leave, until there is some directive from the higher ups.”
Another staff nurse said, “We feel sorry for the inconveniences caused to the patients and also the public, but we have no option. Unless the government gives some positive response, we are planning to carry our agitation.”
The staff nurses also informed that medical operations and surgery were not conducted on Monday. Likewise, regular classes for nursing students were also affected.
However, a nursing official at IMDH, who wished to remain anonymous, said the “ortho surgeon” (orthopedic) and the aestheticians were on leave. For that reason, the medical operations couldn’t be conducted on Monday.
The official also disclosed that the hospital had called in nurses from the “NHRM, ANM staff, B.Sc nursing, student nurses and intern students” to attend to the patients at the hospital.
The official also further disclosed that the directorate had issued orders to bring the nurses working from the ‘peripheral area’ (the nearby medical centers) if the situation compelled.
“So far, we could conduct our hospital functions normally today,” the official said. The official hoped that the issue would be resolved at the earliest.
Poster campaign against the govt
In another matter, the Unemployed Trained Nurses’ Association of Nagaland has informed that members would be undertaking a ‘poster campaign’ on July 2 in all the district headquarters. “This campaign is aimed at sensitizing the esteemed citizens of Nagaland to support us in our move against the adamant attitude of the government towards our many plights,” the association stated in a letter to the media on Monday.
‘On the basis of the finding of the survey conducted by the UTNA, at present, there is shortage of about 348 posts of staff nurse plus 30% on leave reservation in the state as per the norms of the Indian Nursing Council. This non-creation of requisite number of post as per the INC norms is not only assassination of our careers but also denying the much needed medical services to the people of Nagaland,” the association said.
The nurses have said that they will “voice out against the government”. The UTNA strongly appeal to all community organizations, journalists, and the students’ community and the public in general to support the cause of the nurses during the poster campaign.