The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses has issued directives for nurses working at the Karin Grech Rehabilitation Hospital, after Steward Health Care ignored complaints that their working conditions were not in line with those of nurses in other State hospitals.
In a statement, the union said that Steward had adopted "a defensive management mechanism”, rendering the nurses totally liable on issues beyond their control.
It said it had given Steward enough time to implement the same practices similar to those at St Vincent De Paul and Mater Dei Hospital, but no changes in work practices materialised.
As a result, the union issued a set of directives for nurses, which come into force at 7am on Friday.
What the directives state
For patient safety, all patients who have been ordered supervision for any reason such as during feeding, washing or walking are not to be ambulated unless a carer who is not part of the staff complement is added to the ward complement.
Moreover, in the absence of a Charge Nurse or a Deputy Charge Nurse, the most senior staff nurse is not to take any patient allocation during that day.
With regard to the staff numbers, the union ordered nurses not to do any washing, change nappies, or ambulate/transfer patients if the staff complement is not reached. There must be five staff nurses plus one nurse in the morning and three staff nurses and one nurse in the afternoon. Even if vacation leave is cancelled due to staffing levels, the directives still count.
With regard to documentation, the union ordered nurses not to fill or sign care plans. All documentation that is being written on daily evaluation sheets must be stopped and such documentation has to be written only on nursing report (cardex).
With regard to vacation leave, the union said that nurses who book a day of leave and a half a day of leave first are to be approved automatically, without the need of a signature of the Senior Nursing Manager.
Moreover, nurses are not to sign off any menus and those who report sick must only inform their respective ward and not anyone else.
Furthermore, all overtime has to be confirmed within three days of booking. If such overtime is not confirmed, nurses can refuse overtime and can book overtime work at Mater Dei Hospital.
With regard to attendance sheets, the union ordered nurses not to sign in or out unless the attendance sheet is in the ward and should only write their name and surname without indicating the punch clock number.