SHILLONG: The NEIGRIHMS nurses under the banner of Joint Action Committee, have expressed disappointment with the inaction of the authorities as they face discrimination in their fight against COVID-19.
According to the nurses, with the report of first case of a COVID-19 patient in the hospital on June 9, the nursing fraternity had expressed their concern in a letter addressed to the Director regarding the breach in the quarantine protocol of the patient and the attending staff.
“The case was also a test that proved that the NEIGRIHMS administration was unorganised, unprepared and unsystematic in handling COVID positive cases”, the nurses said.
The single positive patient exposed numerous attending staff and health workers to the virus because of the unpreparedness of the hospital in following quarantine protocols, they said.
They pointed out that the doffing and donning area of the COVID isolation unit was not laid out as per protocol and quarantine accommodations were not provided to the staff who had done their COVID duty for seven days.
The nurses were instead directed to return home after their COVID duty without subjecting to any screening test for COVID.
They said the letter narrating their genuine concerns was ignored and instead the Director chose to describe it as fear psychosis, as per media reports.
The director had also told the media that the COVID fund is needed for future use in case of a ‘COVID-19 tsunami’.
However, the nurses wanted to know what is the purpose of fund if it is not used for providing protective gears and quarantine facilities to the health care workers. The nurses called for standard protocols that will ensure the safety of both patients and health workers in the COVID isolation area which is lacking in NEIGRIHMS.
“However, since all our issues were not addressed by the administration, we were compelled to put black badges since June 16 as a gesture of displeasure and it would continue till our grievances are addressed”, the nurses said.
They also informed that the Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI), State branch and Nursing Superintendent of North Eastern Institution of Ayurveda and Homeopathy have supported their cause.
