THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The recent strikes that broke out in the nursing community was the eruption of a volcano. Though everything had been looking fine and calm, the discontent was burning inside.A study by the Kerala State Women’s Commission throws light on the hardships faced by nurses in private hospitals in the state. Around 21 percent of nurses get a salary of less than Rs 1,500 a month. Only a meagre 0.6 percent get salary as per the government service rate, according to the study.Moreover, hospital authorities did not show humanitarian concerns towards them. Only 17 percent of nurses enjoy maternity leave, while nine percent are allowed it without salary.Worse, seven percent of interviewed nurses are deprived of even weekly-off. Around seven percent experience some kind of sexual harassment, mainly from patients in the form of dirty comments, the study states.Around 45 percent of nurses work for more than 12 hours and only 30 percent have below eight hours’ duty. The facility of personal room to change dress and rest was available but 65 percent are unsatisfied with the facility.The majority of the nurses work only for a maximum of two years in an institution. The study reveals a frequent change of workplace. The majority are married indicating that marital status is no more a criterion hindering the selection of nurses in private hospitals, the study states.Most of the nurses have qualification from recognised private institutions while 26 percent qualified from unrecognised institutions. The study was conducted taking Alappuzha as a sample district. It was conducted between December 2008 and January 2009.In the recommendation submitted to the government, the commission stresses the need to conduct more studies on various individual problems of nurses in the private hospitals.Enforcement of laws should be made mandatory regarding qualification, basic facilities for women employees and sexual harassment, it added.
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