Nurses' Federation Asks For Reserved Beds For Nurses And Their Families

Reserved Beds For Nurses: The All India Nurses' Federation wrote a letter to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital in Delhi asking for firm policies to admit nurses and their families suffering from COVID-19.

The federation comes after the deaths of relatives of two nurses working at the Delhi hospital, they succumbed to death after they were unable to get treatment. They demanded that beds be reserved for nurses and their family members who are dealing with coronavirus complications. According to a report by Hindustan Times, many staff members working at hospitals have made the same demand. The report also mentioned the deaths of two nurses and one technician at Lok Nayak Hospital this week.

The nurses federation in their letter claimed that 250 nursing staff and technical staffers of RML Hospital tested positive for COVID-19 in the past month.

Nurses' Federation Issues Letter To RML Hospital Seeking Reserved Beds For Nurses

The letter addressed to Rana AK Singh, the medical superintendent of RML Hospital, alleged that the hospital denied admissions to ill nurses and their family members. The secretary-general of the All-India Nurses Federation wrote, " You are requested to make a proper and firm policy for the admission of nurses and their family members. Some separate space/floor should be allocated for this purpose. Their lives are also equally important to run the hospital in the future."

"We cannot afford to lose a single nurse in this battle with corona as there is already a shortage of nurses in the health care system. You are requested to look into the matter seriously and make necessary arrangements for nurses at the earliest,” the letter added.

The Union Ministry of Health directed RML, Safdarjung Hospital and one other central government hospital to ensure that health care workers contracting COVID-19 are given immediate treatment. The leading daily quoted a medical staff working at RML in which they claimed that despite issuing an order to priorities the health of frontline workers, RML has not implemented it. The unnamed medical staff claimed that a nurse had to wait an entire night at the hospital to get their sick mother admitted.

No comment has been received from RML medical superintendent so far.

The number of positive cases of COVID-19 continues to multiply in the country. The central government had promised insurance of Rs 50 Lakhs to the family members of healthcare workers who died of COVID-19 on duty. In 2021, the insurance has lapsed and no announcement has been by the government to extend it yet.