Preethi (name changed), who hails from Kerala’s Palakkad, has been working as a nurse at one of Delhi’s premier private hospitals for the last one and half years.
Expecting a promising future in nursing, Preethi was happy with her profession. All was going well till the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) hit the national capital, and the hospital she was working at turned into a Covid-19-dedicated hospital.
Upset over multiple issues — poor quality of PPE kits and masks, erratic work schedules, pending salaries, among others — Preethi and as many as 60 of her colleagues resigned three weeks back and returned to their state.
Nurses from Kerala, who form the backbone of almost every hospital in the national capital, have left in droves, crippling operations at several major hospitals. While a few said they fear to work in the city amid the pandemic, some claimed that they didn’t have medical insurance.
“I am uncertain about my future and career now…I don’t have any immediate plans to go back to Delhi, maybe after two months or more, when the situation improves but haven’t made up my mind yet on this matter,” Preethi, who returned to hometown last week, tells this newspaper over the phone.
Many other nurses from Kerala returned their state eyeing for a better opportunity. So pitiable is the condition in which some of them are forced to work even during these dangerous Covid times — without as much as the basic Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) — that cases of nurses even attempting suicide in hospitals in northern India have surfaced lately.
“The poor quality of PPE kits and masks is no longer a new issue now. It has been there since day one itself, and yet, the issue has not been addressed properly. And the worst part is the management, which makes us work for 12 hours.
Whereas, the doctors have a shift of six hours. Can you imagine the kind of problems nurses face wearing those kits… I had started losing weight, I would faint in those kits. I had started having menstrual and blood pressure problems. I was left with no option but submit my resignation,” adds Preethi.
The nurses’ worst fear came true when on May 24, Malayali nurse Ambika PK, 46, working at Kalra Hospital in West Delhi’s Kirti Nagar died of the infection.
She breathed her last at the Safdarjung Hospital. Ambika was the first staff nurse in the country to die of the Covid-19.
Nurses have even alleged that they were asked to reuse PPE in the initial days. “When this pandemic broke, we were initially promised many perks – quarantine rooms, bonus, limited working hours and testing facilities, etc.
But soon after the hospital started admitting Covid-19 positive patients, the behaviour of the hospital administration changed completely.
"Not just for them but even for us, this is a new virus and the taking care of patients, at times, get on nerves,” says a nurse working at another private hospital.
However, some nurses also claimed that the quality of PPE kits has improved over the period. Another nurse, who worked with a private hospital, claims that the healthcare workers, apart from doctors, were not being paid in time. Many of them didn’t receive their salary for the past two or more months.
“The hospital had told us that we would be given Rs 500 extra per day. Many of us, attracted by the lure of quick money, started Covid-19 duty. Forget about the compensation, we haven’t got our salaries yet. When we had approached, the administration gave false hopes that we would be paid in a few days. The hospital does not provide us with any accommodation, and without salary, how do we pay rent or buy groceries. I had tried to get my pending salary before quitting the job, but the manager said it will be sent later,” the nurse, on condition of anonymity citing that naming her might make it difficult to get a job, says.
Till June 30, data from 10 major public and private Covid care hospitals in the city shows that more than 2,109 healthcare workers have contracted Covid-19, and at least 18, including one mohalla clinic doctor, have died.
Some nurses say despite taking the risk, there has been a lack of acknowledgement of their contribution.
“I understand doctors are, of course, the frontline warriors in this war, but that doesn’t mean we are of any less importance. But unfortunately, the nurses are not given the due credit. The treatment of management has often been discouraging. Many senior doctors don’t even come for duties in Covid-19 wards. We are also equally risking our lives... We gave a mass resignation — 18 of us tendered resignations,” she says.
Ghost of the past
After two nurses — Ambika and 67-year-old Rajammaa, who hailed from Kerala, succumbed to the virus, there is a fear of uncertainty among the nurses.
“No one wants to be tagged as a ‘coward’ and leaving this battle mid-way. But then, I will be lying if I say that we are not scared. Some nurses, despite getting infected, were forced to come to work because no tests were conducted on time. When their condition worsened, they were tested,” says another woman nurse.
Shortage affecting facilities
Unhappiness about facilities or perhaps insecurity stemming from rapid disease spread compared to their home state were other reasons. Some private hospitals admit that the lack of medical staff is affecting their services.
“Soon after I converted the hospital into a Covid-19 ward, the staff started resigning. Many nurses initially took leaves citing family issues and then, sent their resignations. Many a time, I tried to stop them because of the shortage of workforce. But they didn’t pay heed to my requests,” says the head of a private hospital.
Frequent protests by nurses
The healthcare workers in many city hospitals have flagged concerns over safety and long working hours.
While nurses at Primus Hospital had alleged that the administration made them share the same washroom with that of Covid-19 patients, gave them beds next to the patients and had not paid the salary of some for months, which led to demonstrations outside the hospital premises, the management argued that the nurses abandoned the patients amid such a crisis.
In May, a 22-year-old Malayali nurse attempted suicide after testing positive for Covid. She was working at a Gurugram hospital.
Even government hospitals such as AIIMS saw protests by its nurses’ union for nine days over its demand for implementation of uniform four-hour duty with PPE in Covid-19 areas.
Following which, the administration agreed to the demand and the strike was called off.
Similarly, at North MCD-run Bara Hindu Rao, which has been recently turned into a designated Covid-19 hospital, also witnessed a protest by its nurses’ association over non-payment of salaries for the past four months.
The association alleged that while the doctors were paid their salaries, the nurses were ignored, forcing them to seek monetary assistance from others.
PIL in SC for compensation to kin of victims
A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking adequate ex-gratia monetary compensation to the next of kin of all Indian citizens who succumb to Covid-19, especially for the financially weaker sections of society. The PIL also sought a direction to the Centre and state governments to formulate a ‘compensation plan’ to provide a monetary compensation to the kin of essential/healthcare workers who have died to Covid-19. It urged the court to seek a status report from the governments on the total number of causalities and measures taken for compensating the loss of life
Kerala nurses working outside
A significant number of nurses from Kerala migrate to other parts of India.
They are on frontlines of fight against Covid-19 outbreak, yet nurses from Kerala in the national capital are forced to work without quality PPE kits, face erratic schedules and are underpaid.