Kidwai nurses’ stir stretches staff, students asked to help

BENGALURU: With 170 nurses and 20 lab technicians employed on contract basis protesting since Monday, the remaining staff of Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology are being forced to work for more than 12-14 hours a day.
Kidwai has also enrolled nursing students from other government hospitals and institutions to make up for the shortage.

Ten senior nurses, who had been sent on deputation from Kidwai for their post-graduate studies in Government Nursing College, were also asked to come back and help the hospital tide over the crisis. “We were called back as there is staff crunch here,” said an MSc nursing student.

On Friday, the hospital witnessed long queues of cancer patients waiting for chemotherapy. “Even as some nurses are protesting, others are working hard without taking a break. But for how long can this be sustained?” said a 54-year-old head-and-neck cancer patient from Bidar, who was seen waiting for his turn for more than an hour. Relatives were seen assisting patients in some rudimentary tasks in wards.

However, the hospital claimed that no patient faced any inconvenience due to the protest.

“We are government staff and have to work overtime when there is a need. The hospital is a place to treat patients and not protest. We will ask police to vacate the agitating nurses from the campus if they continue with their strike,” said Dr K B Linge Gowda, director of the hospital.

Meanwhile, the protesting nurses are firm on continuing their agitation.

“The hospital has issued a notification to recruit 150 nurses on contract basis. Some of us have 10 years of experience in this hospital and we are good at our work. Why can’t we be continued in these posts?” said one of the protesting nurses.

As per the new rule, the contract staff can be appointed only by the state paramedical board and through written tests and interviews.