A group of nurses has batted for separate isolation wards for health workers to allow medical frontliners to be treated or isolated.
"Dapat po yung mga ospital natin, aside dun sa COVID wards na meron para po dun sa mga pasyente natin, dapat meron din para sa health workers (Aside from COVID wards, our hospitals should also have one for health workers)," said Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) National President Melbert Reyes on Monday, April 26.
"May nabalitaan tayo na merong doktor na namatay kasi hindi rin natanggap sa ospital, what more pa po kung nurses natin? (We heard a doctor died because he was not admitted to the hospital, what more our nurses?)" Reyes lamented.
Reyes also appealed to the Department of Health (DOH) to regularize contract-of-service health workers.
"Pinakanakakalungkot po kasi dyan, pagka-job order, contractual wala pong employee-employer relationship. Nababawasan yung obligasyon ng hospital to them. Kaya nga po mas hinihiling talaga namin na tanggalin po uan sa health system, yung job order (The saddest thing is, job order or contractual nurses have no employee-employer relationship. It lessens the hospital's obligation to them. That's why we really ask to remove that from our health system, the job order system)," he added.
Reyes said that low compensation and poor working conditions are what drive nurses to quit their jobs.
"Wala na nga tayong nurses umaalis pa dahil sa condition, they're dissatisfied, nababawasan yung morale nila. Pinipilit nating dagdagan ang manpower sa health system pero hindi naman natin naiiwasan yung pag-alis ng ilan kasi nga sa ibinibigay na value ng government natin (We already lack nurses in hospitals and a lot of them are already quitting because they are dissatisfied, demoralized. We are trying to increase manpower in the health system but we can't stop them from leaving because they are not valued)," Reyes ended.