Students, resident docs step in for striking nurses

Nurses and class 3 hospital staff in state-run hospitals in Mumbai went on strike demanding the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme. The strike resulted in a shortage of staff, but nursing students and resident doctors stepped in to provide patient care. The strike was part of a wider demand from government employees to return to the old pension scheme and to stop employing nurses on contract.

MUMBAI : Nurses and class 3 hospital staff in state-run hospitals joined government employees in a collective strike on Thursday demanding the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). In Mumbai, JJ Hospital, Grant Medical College, GT Hospital, St George Hospital, Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital and Cama and Albless Hospital faced shortage, as around 5,000 nurses (of 13,000 in the state) went off duty, said Manisha Shinde, president of the Maharashtra State Nurses Association (MSNA).

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Nursing students and resident doctors however saved the day. State medical commissioner Rajiv Nivatkar said, “We asked nurses from 25 colleges to join duties. Our focus was patient-care. Other class 3 staffers were also absent. Some employees wore black bands and worked.”

Shazia Ansari, a student of paramedics who was working in the neurology ward of JJ Hospital on Thursday, said, “My duty hours have been stretched today. We are stepping in for the nurses who are off duty – we are doing patient entry, waiting for them and administering medicines.”

Other doctors shared similar stories – all going beyond their job profiles to make up for the absence of nurses, ward attendants, clerks and sanitation workers. Around 750 nurses in the hospital were off duty, said the hospital’s dean Pallavi Saple.

The situation was brought under control however by around 300 BSc and MSc students. “We’re concentrating on emergency work and ensuring it goes on as usual,” said Saple. “We’ve posted one nursing student in each ward and around two to three in the ICUs. As we were aware of the strike in advance, we did not schedule many surgeries and routine procedures for today.”

As a result, by 6pm the 1,434 were examined in the OPD and 57 attended to in the ICU. The operation theatre was however closed. The absence of clerks and administration staff did not put a spanner in the works.

At St George Hospital, at least half of the 288 nurses carry out administrative duties. “That’s where we are facing the pressure, as the 60 nursing students we’ve got are now involved in patient care, which is a priority. The OPD is still running, but some selective procedures in the operation theatre were cancelled,” said an official from the hospital.

Dr Tushar Palve, superintendent of Cama Hospital said that around 180 to 200 nurses were on strike; and the shortfall was made up for by nursing students and resident doctors.

“We have around 18 demands in total,” said Manisha Shinde. “The most crucial is to return to the OPS that was stopped in 2005, and to stop employment of nurses on contract.” She added, those on contract are paid as low as ₹10,000 a month, “which is not enough to run a family”.

Dr Praful Salunkhe, also a part of the MSNA with JJ Hospital, explained that government employees have to contribute a part of their salary for their pension under the new scheme, which is combined with the government’s contribution and invested. The old scheme was to their preference.

“Employing nurses under contractors reduces reliability and the nurses get paid much less,” he said. “It’s a threat to both patients and society.”