Nurses' union insists graduates be employed

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses has again appealed to the government to "move from words to facts" and employ the nurses who have just completed their studies.

The union was reacting to the government's decision to employ nurses within the public sector only depending on exigencies rather than according to the number of those who graduate successfully.

The MUMN said the state had decided not to employ on a casual basis the nurses who had successfully completed their studies.

Until these nurses were recruited, the union said it would proceed with its plans to ensure that patients received the treatment they deserved in keeping with today's times. It again asked for a meeting with the Prime Minister on the issue.

According to the union, the normal procedure, practised over the last 15 years, was for the nurses to be given temporary work in public hospitals before applying for a full-time job.

Reacting to the statement saying that the Health Division was conducting a detailed exercise to identify the sectors where nurses were needed in order to be in a position to employ the number required, the union said it had "concrete information" that this exercise had been concluded for a while now.

While the number of nurses applying for work was 65, the government was aware that there were over 140 vacancies spread over the public hospitals, the MUMN said.

The health services section of the Union Haddiema Maghqudin has meanwhile written to the Health Division complaining that its decision not to take steps to fill vacant posts would undermine the morale of workers occupying important positions in the division, with negative consequences for the public health sector.

The decision meant that the door for career advancement was closed to professional workers within the division, the UHM said. Students who had successfully completed their course would neither be employed with the division when there were vacancies in various professional disciplines, the union added.

The decision was considered to be wrong and harmful and the UHM called for its reversal.