Guyana joins the rest of the world in observance of International Nurses day under the theme “Nurses: – A Voice to Lead – A Vision for Future Healthcare”. To this end the President of the Guyana Public Service Union, Patrick Yarde in saluting the nurses pointed to their sterling contribution especially during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
According to Yarde, this is being done even though the nurses are being treated in a most insensitive and uncaring manner. Nurses are not in receipt of a risk allowance which is fully merited; they have not received a salary increase for two years to be able to discharge their duties and protect their households from infection. It is necessary for them to incur additional expenses apart from the price increases that are being experienced for consumption goods.
He then asked “Why is it that Nurses receive so little when so much is expected of them”?
This is the predicament Nurses are currently faced with and their employer, the Government, is fully aware of this crisis situation but chooses to do nothing to improve their lives and livelihood. Instead, there is willful suffocation and persistent neglect for these most hardworking, lifesaving essential human resource personnel in our country.
It is therefore imperative that nursing personnel within the health care system in Guyana be given priority attention and the Guyana Public Service Union calls on the Government of Guyana to make adequate provisions for improved delivery of healthcare and the corresponding compensatory benefits. It is time!