The inability by emergency nurses to administer potentially life-saving drugs to patients is putting lives at risk, according to the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses.
Nurses are incensed that, although they are professionally trained to deal with emergencies, they are not able to give patients medicines that could save their lives, although these are ironically carried in their emergency bag.
Unless the situation is rectified, the union will be directing nurses to stop accompanying ambulances when these are summoned, MUMN president Paul Pace said.
The nurses' boycott of the ambulance service was originally expected to kick off last Friday but the union postponed it for a week because a number of government health officials were away.
However, Mr Pace told The Times that the issue was by no means over. "Unless we have a meeting with the authorities by Friday, or if we reach a deadlock, we will be directing nurses to stay off ambulances," he warned.
He said this was not a financial matter because the issue revolved around giving nurses the possibility of improving the service for the benefit of patients.
"There have been nurses who take legal risks and still give patients medication because they know that they really need it.
"Nurses are highly demotivated and frustrated. If the division is not ready to empower nurses for the good of patients, there is no use for them to go on ambulances," he said.
In a letter to the director general for health, John Cachia last January, Mr Pace had said the union had been informed that the authorisation for emergency nurses on ambulances to administer certain medicines had been shelved.
"This unacceptable attitude adopted by the health division is not only an insult to our nursing profession but also to the public. Drugs, like intravenous glucose for patients suffering hypoglycaemia and rectal valium for patients suffering from febrile convulsions, are potential life savers," he said in the letter, adding that one would have expected the health authorities to prioritise this issue.
Ambulances called on emergency cases carry all the necessary equipment and the necessary drugs, which have to be used by the nurses who are trained for any eventuality.
But unless authorisation was issued, the emergency service "is seriously handicapped" and can result in loss of life, Mr Pace said. He pointed out that drugs have to be administered at the earliest possible in order to improve a patient's condition and keep it from deteriorating.
"Nurses are being faced with desperate parents and relatives who are expecting the ambulance nurse to administer the treatment," he wrote, adding that in one case a mother "pleaded and begged" the ambulance nurse to administer valium to her son suffering from febrile convulsions. This had led to a ridiculous situation whereby, since the nurse was not authorised to give a drug carried in the emergency bag, the valium was handed over to the mother who then had to administer it to her son herself.
Mr Pace said he has not received any reply to the letter, which was copied to the Director General Health Ray Busuttil and to the director of nursing services Jesmond Sharples.
The union is also calling for an insurance cover for nurses who accompany ambulances. Mr Pace explained that nurses are not covered for injuries they may sustain while on an emergency. A similar situation had led the union to stop nurses from flying on helicopters last month.
Moreover, Mr Pace continued, the union is insisting on the setting up of pre-hospital teams led by nurses and that ambulances are regularly maintained.
Questions sent to the Social Policy Ministry on Friday remained unanswered, with a spokesman saying that the issue was the subject of discussion with the MUMN and it was premature to comment at this stage.