KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — More than 14,000 people have signed a petition for the government to retain a 42-hour work week and public holiday entitlements for nurses in the public service.
The online petition – which was started by an anonymous person simply named “Jururawat kita” last December 20 – appears to have gained steam after Cabinet axed the Waktu Bekerja Berlainan (WBB) shift system pilot project for doctors last January 24.
At least three nursing associations, including the Malayan Nurses Union (MNU), have since renewed their protests against the addition of three working hours to a 45-hour work week for nurses in a new shift system under the Sistem Saraan Perkhidmatan Awam (SSPA). This came into effect last December 1.
“MOH (Ministry of Health) and JPA (Public Service Department) must review the implementation of the shift system under SSPA, particularly for the medical and health sector, because the addition of working hours in a week is unreasonable,” said the petition creator.
“Submissions from implementers and evidence for occupational health must be used in making policy for total working hours in the medical and health sector.
“This issue must be evaluated in a humane manner under Madani. Health care workers, whether working in shifts or not, need a more humane and welfare-based working-hour system that is in line with our responsibility, workload, and medicolegal liabilities.”
The petition attached an op-ed by a specialist doctor, published by CodeBlue last November, that claimed a “huge threat” from a 45-hour work week in a shift system in terms of patient safety and potential medicolegal issues.
“We’re already facing burnout from working 42 hours if the ward is busy. Now, they want to add our working hours. Restore our rights as nurses. Don’t turn us into slaves without a family life. Be rational, not greedy,” wrote one of the signatories of the petition named Hidayah Badariah.
A retired nurse named Norhapizah Hj Zakaria wrote: “Nurses also have the right to be off on public holidays. They are just like other civil servants. The salary raise isn’t actually a raise since it comes with an increase in working hours.
“Please value the sacrifices of all nurses. The government should not be cruel to them; what is being done to them is very unjust. As it is, shift work knows no hours (can never go back on time, it’s always late). Now they want to eliminate public holiday entitlements and increase their working hours. This really increases their burden.”
