Nurses protested in front of the Diet

- Last year's amendment to the law led to a degrading situation for nurses, and the growing salary stacks led to discrimination against them. This was a huge disappointment, especially since we were in front of the Sejm last June, and in talks with the Minister of Health we repeatedly spoke about the irregularities in the construction of this law," Krystyna Ptok, chairwoman of the All-Poland Trade Union of Nurses and Midwives, said in an interview with Medexpress.

As the chairwoman of the trade union stresses, the proposed law drafted by the trade unionists contains provisions that level the wage gap, which is too high in their view, to the benefit of nurses with extensive professional experience. This is especially true of nurses who earned their professional licenses in the past, when nursing high schools were still in operation.

Also a bone of contention is the statutory provision on "required" qualifications. The protesters want this provision to be changed to "possessed." The issue is that currently there are situations in which hospital managements in shaping salaries do not take into account some of the qualifications of nurses, claiming that they are not required for the position.

- Some directors even sent and paid for courses or agreed to complete specializations. The director can use the authority granted during specialization in the implementation of services. This is also a starting point for a conversation about quality in health care. The fact that there is a provision in the law about the qualifications required leads to a situation where the director decides whether or not a nurse should work as a master of nursing or a specialist. This is a big disappointment for us," comments Mariola Lodzinska, president of the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives.

Nurses from all over Poland have come to the protest. Iwona Golon from the Radziejów County Hospital in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship stresses that although representatives of the profession from different provinces are protesting, the demands they are going with are common.

- We are concerned with normalizing the law introduced last year. Its effect is large pay stacks and degradation of our profession. One nurse resents the fact that some get paid much more for the same work. Also, not all directors recognize our qualifications. It doesn't pay them to hire educated staff, because it generates costs," Iwona Golon stresses.

It's worth reading

Kolejny protest pielęgniarek. Krystyna Ptok wyjaśnia jego motywy.