The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) is calling on the citizens to demand better treatment for nurses, on the occasion of International Nurses Day.

In a press release GPSU President Patrick Yarde said even as commemorative activities are being held, nurses are facing great challenges. “Increasingly, demands are being made on their services as a consequence of gross administrative incompetence, negligence and mismanagement resulting in the spread of dreaded diseases and  failing to properly deal with them, armed struggles all of which places them at greater risk.”

He said nurses are unsung heroes who are often called to give tirelessly and unselfishly of their service at all hours of the day and night and in order to best serve patients they  need “the tools to perform their duties, an environment that is conducive to professional work, and reasonable financial remuneration adequate to sustain their livelihood.” The GPSU head said in Guyana the value of nurses is not regarded and the qualities and standards that should be associated with the profession are not being upheld by those responsible for administering them.

Yarde said an example of mistreatment and the lack of appreciation for health professionals was recently demonstrated at the Fort Canje Hospital and it should be seen as a culmination of the government’s negligence with regard to health professionals and the health care system. “This is an insult added to injury 10 years after the 1999 strike, in which peaceful and non-violent protestors against oppression, many of whom were nurses, were shot at,” he added.  The GPSU said currently nurses are facing “coercive attempts by the government’s pursuit of legislation to undermine their constitutional right to withhold their labour when faced with abuse.” This is adverse to the policy of goodwill where the more enlightened approach would be to improve their conditions of work. Yarde said the result of this prevailing attitude is that health facilities are short-staffed; nurses are poorly remunerated and are expected to function in deplorable working conditions that endanger them.  The GPSU said the consequent mass exodus of health professionals who leave at the first opportunity should be regarded as a badge of shame for this administration and not as an opportunity to promote political machinations. Yarde said the nurses have the full support of the GPSU’s membership in their efforts to improve their profession and the quality of their lives ad it recognises their invaluable contribution to the well being of humanity.