Nurses will not attend coronavirus patients unless provided with full protective clothing

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses accuses Prime Minister of taking coronavirus threat ‘very lightly’ • Nurses will not attend to coronavirus patients and stop administering nebulizer at health centres

Nurses dealing with coronavirus patients want to be provided with coveralls as seen in the picture above. The MUMN has directed its members not to treat Covid-19 patients unless provided with this safety clothing.
Nurses dealing with coronavirus patients want to be provided with coveralls as seen in the picture above. The MUMN has directed its members not to treat Covid-19 patients unless provided with this safety clothing.

Nurses have been directed by their union not to attend to coronavirus patients unless they are provided with full-head covering protective clothing.

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses said nurses and medical personnel dealing with Covid-19 patients should be issued with coveralls.

On Monday, the MUMN said government had only provided nurses and healthcare professionals with normal gowns unlike those used in other countries.

It directed its members not to attend to Covid-19 patients unless they are provided with coveralls.

“MUMN would like to point out that in Lombardy, Italy, where simple gowns were given to nurses, 10% of nurses got infected with the coronavirus,” the MUMN said at a press conference.

MUMN is asking for personal protective equipment (PPEs) that includes FFP3 mask, a visor, a gown and gloves. 

“Nurses and MUMN are being left in the dark and being continuously lied about on the whole contingency plan. First of all, the contingency plan was never seen and MUMN have serious doubts if it was actually written at Mater Dei Hospital,” Paul Pace, MUMN’s president said.

The union also complained of a lack of fit testing of N95 masks — nurses, the MUMN insists, should be fit tested since the protective masks and the PPE components arrive in different sizes.

“All nurses in the relieve pool at Mater Dei and other nurses from the wards are not to attend to the Infectious Diseases Unit. Such nurses will be deployed in the ward with coronavirus patients without any coveralls and would literally be the sacrificial lambs,” Pace warned.

MUMN President Paul Pace. (Photo: James Bianchi/MediaToday)
MUMN President Paul Pace. (Photo: James Bianchi/MediaToday)

The MUMN has ordered that its members do not even provide any lectures or presentations to their respective staff unless the PPEs are provided.

In other directives nurses at health centres will not provide nebulizer treatment. Nebulizers are devices that produce a fine spray of liquid, used for inhaling a medicinal drug. 

“This directive is being issued since all face masks are being locked and are not available to staff,” Pace said.

MUMN is expecting that the Health Division provides the 360-degree coveralls with head protected as all affected countries provided to their respective nurses, it said.

“MUMN would now also expect that Charmaine Gauci [the Superintendent of Public Health] in her daily update to the media recognise the fact that Malta is not prepared to treat a coronavirus outbreak due to the union’s industrial directives being issued to the 4,000 members belonging to the biggest trade union within the health sector,” Pace said.

Abela taking it lightly

The union also reserved harsh words for Prime Minister Robert Abela, describing him as the only Prime Minister in Europe not to be involved in a coronavirus strategy.

"He seems to be taking it very lightly. While Prime Ministers in Europe met with nurses and trade unions to discuss their concerns and address all nursing issues on the PPEs, with some PMs issuing strong statements to the media on PPEs of the nursing staff, [Abela] did nothing of the sort," Pace said.