Infuriated over the remarks allegedly made by Haryana Women Commission Chairperson Renu Bhatia during her visit in LNJP hospital in Kurukshetra two days back, scores of nursing staff members of the District Civil Hospital, Karnal, observed a two-hour pen-down strike on the hospital premises on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA), Pharmacy Officers’ Association, Laboratory Technicians’ Association and others also joined the protest in support of nursing staff.
They demanded an apology and withdrawal of the remarks against the nursing staff. The protesting employees raised slogans against the Women Commission Chairperson and termed her remarks against the whole nursing fraternity.
On the call of the state body of Nursing Association, nursing staff members observed the strike. They said that the nursing staff members always perform their duties with utmost dedication and professionalism. They strongly objected to allegations of negligence or collusion of nursing staff with the accused doctor in Kurukshetra hospital.
Sukhvinder Kaur, a protesting nursing staff member, said, “Nursing staff members work round the clock with complete dedication towards patient care. It is wrong to blame nurses for incidents without proper investigation. The remarks of the Women Commission Chairperson have deeply hurt our self-respect and dignity.” She should tender an apology and take her statement back, she added.
Aarti, another protester, said, “Our priority is always to provide timely and quality healthcare services. Making such allegations against the nursing community is unfair and unacceptable. We will not tolerate insults to our profession and self-respect.”
Naresh Garg, a Senior Pharmacy officer, said that the whole Pharmacy Officers’ Association is with the nursing staff as the remarks of the Women Commission Chairperson were unacceptable. “She should apologizes for her remarks against the nursing staff. She should have first investigated the matter, and given a statement,” he added.
Dr Sanjay Verma, District President of HCMSA, said that using such disrespectful language against nursing staff is highly objectionable. The nursing profession is based on compassion and commitment. “Thousands of nursing staff members across Haryana serve patients honestly every day. Such statements demoralise healthcare workers. We extend our support to nursing staff,” he added. Meanwhile, patients have to suffer due to this two-hour strike.
