Renal Unit nurses instructed to disobey management
Renal Unit nurses have been instructed by their union not to accept management's orders to take on the care of four, instead of three, patients.
The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses said in a statement this would be endangering patient care. Three patients, it said, could be taken care of by one nurse if safe practice procedures were to be followed. But due to a shortage of nurses in thepast weeks, they were ordered to take on an additional patient each.
The union said the situation was unacceptable and besides putting patient care at risk it was also exposing nurses to mistakes that could lead to disciplinary and legal action against them.
It said it was shameful that rather than trying to find a solution, the Health Division had launched into a baseless attack against the union.
It said it would not be intimidated and would be writing to the European organisations it was affiliated with for the necessary action to be taken.
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denis attard
Sep 8th 2010, 10:08
Union matters should NEVER prevail over patient care. £ instead of four means one patient will not get the necessary attention. MUMN has, over the last years become increasingly militant and its leaders seem to forget the vocational aspect of nursing care.
Mr.Pace...you have gone overboard
M.Bezzina
Sep 9th 2010, 13:43
Maybe we or the gov reversed back during Mintoff's administration??
f micallef
Sep 8th 2010, 09:55
With such a shortage of nurses at
mater Dei why where newly qualified nurses sent to start their working experience at St vincent De Paul Residence. To look after the daily needs of the elderly you do not need to be a qualified nurse. It is a waste of resourses
d. borg
Sep 8th 2010, 09:54
Gharukaza, ghall kull haga ta xejn tistrajkjaw. Din x'vokazzjoni hi li ghandkom? Dejjem igibu lilkom infuskom qabel il-marid. Ghas-sagrificcji taduha lil Florence Nightingale. Jew ghandkom xi agenda mohbija?
M.Bezzina
Sep 9th 2010, 09:55
Fl ebda hin ma rajt il kelma STRIKE jien miktuba...taf taqra jew le??Jew ridt tikteb l agenda tijek biss??Fil prezent in nurses 3 pazjenti jamlu fir renal unit!!Fehmni x qed taharqek li tara 4 pazjenti??il pazjent ghan nurse mhuwiex numru kif qed tamlu l awtorita!!Jew forsi kif qed timmagina int!!
Paul Borg
Sep 8th 2010, 09:42
Although I agree that there is a shortage of nurses, mismanagement is the real problem. I cannot understand how Nurses, after years of training, are being let doing other duties than nursing duties. For example in Health Centres and Out Patients Dept., you can clearly observe Nurses doing duties such as handling of files, fixing appointments and gathering data to be inserted in patients files. Such duties can be easily done by other grades such as Health Assistants, Nursing Aides or Clerks. I am aware that certain Health Assistants and Nursing Aides even out-perform Staff Nurses doing such work. Re-assigning Nurses in wards and other areas closer to the patient’s need will definitely help ease this critical situation and also will help other Nursing Colleagues to cope with the stress they are facing.
M Grech
Sep 8th 2010, 06:55
Malta Union of MEAN Nurses
Annabelle Bartolo
Sep 8th 2010, 00:25
MUMN should ensure that its nurses are actually working and not sitting pretty doing nothing all day like the nurse at the immunisation centre at Paola Health Centre. Twice I was given an appointment for my now 3 mnth old daughter and twice I was sent back home because she said she had no vaccines available. And she didn't even have the decency to call me not to attend!! This means at least twice she was doing nothing all day - that's not to say that vaccines will not be available for the next 2 wks at least !! Maybe she could go to Renal unit to attend patients there and help her colleagues.
m.farrugia
Sep 7th 2010, 23:44
li thalli kwart tal-pazjenti bla ghajnuna tan-nurses turi li din il-union ma tafx li jekk jinqal xi haga tista tkun respsonabbli hija. Min se jiddecidi liema pazjent se jithalla barra il-management , in-nurse jew inkella l-union. Ikun min ikun li jiddeciedi ikun responsabbli ghal konsegwenzi li jinqalaw. Il-qraba tal=pazjenti ghandhom dritt ikunu jafu min se jiehu din id-decizzjoni. Nisperaw li din ma tkunx xi wahda politika tkun gejja minn fejn gejja.
Robert Grech
Sep 7th 2010, 21:54
It is pretty obvious that none of the complainants below have the most remote idea of what vocational care and evenmore administering prpoper treatment to renal patients is all about. This is not the case of servicing 4 PCs instead of three or dealing with 4 customer complaints instead of three. It is all about securing a life line for three people instead of putting another fours at risk.
j greh
Sep 8th 2010, 22:23
begging your pardon sir but i know exactly what renal care consist of but im afraid you are wrong here, this all boils down to mismanagement and not using the resourses avaliable to its full extent 1 nurse fully trained and qualified in this department should be able to handle even more than 4 patients, not all patients are at the same level of crisis at the same time and this is where team work comes in as once you have 1 or 2 of your patients hooked up and stable you help your team mate this is called being multi skilled and as i said before the health assistant can be allocated the mundain tasks freeing the proffesional nurses, do some research around the world even third world who are lucky to have the needed equipment for renal care manage more than 4 at a time with success, the unions are not what they used to be, although i did not vote for EU they do supply a good union all free of charge with no subs required and excellent backing all up to date and im sure they would not condone the mumn advice to nursing staff
j grech
Sep 7th 2010, 21:35
shame on the union, other countrys hold demonstrations , and i know there are a lot of maltese that dont like to have constructive critisicsm usualy from a brit but here goes with a brit that has malta and the maltese at heart, we do have strikes but emergency services and the caring profession are not allowed to strike leaving lives at risk the civil servants who are not on duty are allowed to hold demonstrations, they go back on duty and those that have just finnished the shift take their place but at no time does the patient get put at risk through industrial action,there is a nursing agency and nursing bank who have carers and nursing assistants as well as nursing staff on there list for the sole purpose of hiring them temporary when staffing levels are down due to sickness, holidays and industrial action we use volunteers to do the more meanial and mundane tasks which allows the trained and proffesional staff to see to the serious and urgent cases, i cannot work full time nursing anymore due to other commitments but i would gladly volunteer to help as would many people on this island
John Micallef
Sep 7th 2010, 20:42
Nispera li kull min qed jikumenta kontra dan l-istrike, ma kienx min dawk li qabel ma l-istrike tat-teachers fit-80. Meta ahna konna thal u ghall- terz mis-sena skolastika konna bla ghalliema!!
N.Grima
Sep 7th 2010, 19:41
Jista' xi ħadd jispjegali kif li tħalli kwart tan-nies bla nurse ser jipproteġi lill-pazzjenti? Minix ngħid li m'għandhomx raġun jipprotestaw (ħalliha li f'kull xogħol ħa jkun hemm mumenti bħal dawn, u fejn hemm relazzjoni sura bejn il-ħaddiem u l-imgħallem ma jkunx hemm problemi bħal dawn), imma r-raġuni li qed jagħtu ma tagħmilx sens!
Carla Mifsud
Sep 8th 2010, 11:14
N.Grima tista' tghidli kif tippretendi li l-infermiera ma jehdux azzjoni meta jafu li jekk ikunu qed jiehdu hsieb iktar pazjenti jkun ta' periklu ghall-pazjenti stess? Ghax ma tghidx lill-Gvern u lill-Universita li kienu jafu bil-problema u bhas-soltu xkupawha taht it-tapit mhux tattakka lill-infermiera?
m zammit
Sep 7th 2010, 19:32
It is shameful that for every little excuse possible, a reason is found to order an industrial action,it seems that you consider yourself as civil lords rather than civil servants. It is about time that you wake up to the realities of life and see what is happening around you and remember that your wages are being paid also by the same patients that you are denying your services to. If your working conditions are so bad why don't you seek private practise
Twannie Chircop
Sep 8th 2010, 11:19
m zammit it is shameful that you are attacking the nurses for taking industrial action when they have been suffering due to the incompetence, inaction and arrogance of the authorities. So is it now not correct to take industrial action when the fault lies with the authorities and the workers and in this case even the patients should continue to suffer? Is industrial action not good because now there is a PN government but when there was a PL government all sorts of industrial actions instigated by the PN and its klieb tal-but unions were the order of the day in order to try and topple the MLP government?
Rachel Williams
Sep 7th 2010, 19:21
So it is safer to let the fourth patient fend for himself? I am sorry that there are issue, but the patient should come first - isnt that was nursing is all about? I swear if anyone of my beloved had to suffer because of these things, I would sue everyone concerned until they would be made to pay!! Whether the Government, nurses or whoever!
Dave Ciappara
Sep 8th 2010, 11:24
Perhaps the nurses should start by suing YOU Rachel Williams for denigrating them. Everyone has a RIGHT to resort to industrial action to safeguard his/her working condition whatever you say. Why don't you attack the authorities for not solving the problem even though they had been warned countless times about it and not the nurses Rachel? How would you like to be a patient and not be given the desired and required attention because the nurses cannot leave one patient to give attention to another. Arrogance is not only reflected in the government inaction but also by commentators like you who instead of attacking the government who is the cause of the problem you attack the nurses. Grow up Rachel and stop attacking the workers.
c. camilleri
Sep 7th 2010, 19:20
And they are still getting their full pay. Can anyone beat the generosity of this Govt????????
That is the reason why strike actions are so common with Govt employees and we hear almost none in the private sector.Politics have spoiled these people and the people in general have to pay the bill.
Jeremy J Camilleri
Sep 8th 2010, 00:28
its not a strike....funny how you constantly get the simplest facts wrong...
Jeremy J Camilleri
Sep 8th 2010, 10:53
This isn't a strike..do you even read the articles on the Times? You constantly get it wrong.
Paul Falzon
Sep 8th 2010, 11:30
c. camilleri did you ever take any industrial action camilleri? Would you accept your employer to continue piling work on you especially with the added danger of an accident concerning the LIFE OF A PERSON? Would you expect your pay to be cut back if you do not oblige and you do your usual normal work? Your comments shows how pn supporters are all out against the workers to defend the pn government which has lost all credibility and sense of management. Now everyone knows that the pn was, is and shall never be a workers party but a party which only protects the capitalist and elite classes. Whatever you do, the pn under Lawrence Gonzi is going to bite the dust come next general election as the pn has never before licked so much dust.
John Grima
Sep 7th 2010, 19:09
I am not sure whether this refers to nurses in the Dialysis unit or whether this is about the nurses in the renal wards, but at Guys Hospital, where my wife has been a patient for over 40 years, one of the dialysis Unit has 36 kidney machines and there are only one sister in charge and three nurses. This is one of the world's foremost hospital in renal treatment and as you can see the ratio of nurses to patients is much greater than what is being requested by the MUMN. One important fact is that at Guys, whenever possible, the patients are actively encouraged to get involved in their treatment to the extent that the patients are allowed to set up the machinmes and also connecting themselves to the machines.
c bugeja
Sep 7th 2010, 19:02
If there is a nurses shortage problem, why are so many student nurses being discouraged during their course- doing the odd jobs instead of learning the important things and not having enough time to study since the course has been crammed in 3 years and not 4
T Camilleri
Sep 7th 2010, 18:26
Disgusting government lack of conscience and total incompetence