THRISSUR: The United Nurses Association (UNA) and the United Nurses Students’ Association have strongly condemned the Kannur District Collector’s order to deploy nursing students in private hospitals in view of the strike. The Collector issued the order on the ground the government hospitals were handling patients over and above their stated capacity. The nursing students will be deployed in private hospitals for five days beginning Monday.
M V Vishnu, state president of United Nurses Students Association, told Express by deploying students to handle patients, the district administration and government was putting the life of patients as well as the career of students at risk.
“The students are not registered and any error on their part will have grave implications. Not only will their careers be jeopardised, they will also face serious legal repercussions,” he said.“The decision to take strong disciplinary action, including dismissal from course, in case a student is absent for ward duty is a gross violation of their rights.”“The students’ association along with the members of the UNA will stage a protest against the order,” Vishnu said.
Meanwhile, the UNA asked how the government can deploy students when it has been batting for the need to have trainee nurses in hospitals for some time now.“The management and the government are arguing the nurses fresh out of college cannot be directly employed at hospitals. However, now the government itself is planing to deploy students with no registration. The government will be answerable in case anything happens to a patient,” UNA state secretary M V Sudheep said.