Nurses of public hospitals observed a three-hour work abstention, demanding the withdrawal of all cadre officers from the nursing sector and the appointment of nurses in their place in Barisal district.
The strike continued for three hours from 9am at all government hospitals on Tuesday. The nurses plan to continue the program on Wednesday as well.
The agitating nurses said they will go for a complete shutdown if their demands were not fulfilled.
However, the emergency departments and emergency surgery units in the hospitals will remain out of the purview of the program.
Shaha Alam, member secretary of the Nursing and Midwifery Reform Council of Barisal Metropolitan, said: “We have been holding various programs since September 9. But since the government has not responded positively to our demands, the strike is being observed in solidarity with the program announced by the Central Nursing and Midwifery Reform Council.”
Ali Asgor, convener of the Barisal Metropolitan Branch of Nursing and Midwifery Reform Council, said this is their one-point demand and it must be met.
“Bureaucrats are appointed at the top ranks of the nursing sector, which is creating a lot of complications,” he said.
According to the current appointment policy, nurses can even be directors general of the Directorate General of Nursing and Midwifery.
“We are demanding the appointment of nurses in the top positions according to their eligibility,” said Nursing and Midwifery Reform Council Convener Shariful Islam.
