5 more nurses who treated Nipah patients dismissed, nurses get arrested after protest

Baby Memorial Hospital in Kozhikode has dismissed seven nurses, two of them who had taken care of Nipah patients. Nurses are staging protest against the dismissal of the fellow-nurses from last night. These nurses were given a salary of Rs 7500 per month. As the protest intensified the hospital authorities immediately withdrew their decision to sack the five nurses. The hospital has also promised to recruit the two nurses who were sacked on June 6. 

However, a short while after the authorities promised to withdraw the dismissal order, the authorities again issued a letter that the dismissed nurses will not be re-appointed. The nurses resumed their protest under the banner United Nurses Association at night and demanded that the nurses be re-appointed. 

As the protest was intensified, the police were called inside the campus and currently, 40 have been arrested following a complaint filed by the hospital management. However, the nurses working in the hospital are said to be continuing their protest today too. 

So far, the salaries have been paid to the nurses according to the number of patients they treated. There were at least 800 patient then but now the number of patients has come down to 495, and the salaries of the nurses are also said to be face a cut. 

The hospital authorities said that the nurses were not dismissed because they took care of Nipah patients. They have completed their training period, and the hospital was not impressed by their performance, so the hospital is said to have dismissed them. The state president of United Nurses Association said if the nurses didn't perform well then why did the hospital ask them to serve the Nipah patients even after they had completed their training period.

• Kozhikode
• Nurses
• Nipah-virus