The Portuguese Nurses’ Union (SEP) on Friday demanded the immediate hiring of nurses and the payment of thousands of hours of overtime due, warning that nurses are “exhausted”.
Throughout this year, we have decried the nurse shortage and have called for more nurses to be accepted. Despite the recruitment being carried out, nurses continued and are still being forced to perform countless overtime which exposes the structural deficiency of these professionals,” SEP stated in a statement.
According to the guild, everyone knows The ever-increasing increase in the needs of the Portuguese population, particularly related to vaccination and the increase in hospitalizations, The condition that determines the need for more hours of nursing care.
In this regard, the Special Education Plan (SEP) stresses that nurses’ availability, commitment and flexibility have been “maximised”, warning that “the situation is not sustainable and will only become more acute”.
In his view, it is unacceptable that the government – at the cabinet meeting in which it decided on containment measures to try to stop the fifth wave of Covid – did not have “time” to decide “the return of contractual autonomy to hospital administrations and health center conglomerates (ACES)” and provide “guidelines” for the above-mentioned institutions to ramp up the recruitment of more nurses quickly”
Regarding the exceptional work done, SEP wants the Ministry of Health to conduct a “quick” survey of all overtime hours or “overtime” backlog through October 31.
In other words, regardless of departments’ qualifications for overtime, what is required is to clear all overtime specified,” the union explained.
Among other SEP requirements is a repayment plan for this rolling debt which, he says, is of interest only to the Ministry of Health/government departments and hospitals.
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