"The unrest among healthcare staff at Arnas Brotzu, called by Nursing Up, will result in a 24-hour strike." This was announced by the healthcare professionals' union, after a failed conciliation attempt at the Prefectural Committee. The date has yet to be determined, but institutional procedures have been initiated to announce it in the first ten days of October. "It is in no way justifiable or acceptable that Brotzu is still the only healthcare provider in Sardinia that does not provide 24-hour presence of healthcare workers in all inpatient wards," one of the reasons given.
The issues raised by the union include overwork, professional de-qualification, and the psychological and physical suffering experienced by healthcare professionals working in the wards of the Businco and San Michele hospitals. " The shortage and absence of healthcare professionals (Oss) leads to serious limitations in the level of care, potentially damaging the health of patients, particularly those confined to bed due to hospital infections and pressure sores . And, in the absence of Oss in the wards, healthcare professionals are distracted from their duties, de-qualified, and demoted," the statement continues.
Among the reasons is that "the care staff, already limited in relation to the number of patients, must abandon their care duties on a daily basis to inappropriately perform non-healthcare technical and logistical tasks, including transporting meal carts from the kitchen to the wards." Then there is "the instability of work shifts, numerous and frequent double-night shifts, the impossibility of making up for the hundreds of hours already worked in excess, and the lack of payment for them."
"The combination of the situations described makes the working environment for healthcare professionals working in the inpatient wards extremely negative and damaging," warns Nursing Up. "Failure to comply with contractual provisions, signed agreements, court rulings, and commitments made by Arnas Brotzu, along with the failure to respond to numerous reports of critical issues in the various inpatient wards, render normal union discussions futile."
"According to the position expressed by Arnas Management during the Prefectural Roundtable held last Monday, September 1st," Nursing Up complained, "the conditions denounced by the Nursing Up nurses' union are unrealistic. The issues have largely already been resolved by the company, and nurses should be happy and grateful to have received a few hundred euros for productivity in 2023. Management also stated that they have been paying for excess hours for months, but there is no evidence of this in either the pay slips or the resolutions. According to Nursing Up, the dissatisfaction among nurses working in the inpatient wards is widespread and has been evident both during past competitions and in the current competition . Over 50 nurses, despite having permanent contracts, prepared and applied for the regional competition to be hired by other local health authorities."
(Unioneonline)
