Coronavirus: Relatives caring for nurses’ children should be given paid leave - MUMN

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses is calling on the government to offer two months of paid vacation leave to relatives who care for the children of nurses in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

The nurses’ union said this would allow nurses who have children to have their mind at rest that their children were being looked after regardless of whether they were working day or night shifts.

In an open letter to Prime Minister Robert Abela on Sunday, MUMN president Paul Pace said that although childcare facilities were being provided for nurses’ children aged between three and 12, such services were only available during the day and could only cover a small percentage of the nursing work force.

“Nurses with babies and small children, together with those who work night shifts do not benefit from such childcare centres,” Pace highlighted.

“A chosen relative of a nurse who has children up to the age of 12 should be given two months’ paid vacation leave so that such relative will be in a position to care for these children while the nurse (parent/s) is at work, be it on a day or night shift. This incentive was also provided - and rightly so -  to the private sector,” Pace said.

The MUMN is also proposing that all overtime worked by nurses during the pandemic should not be taxed, so as to encourage working past normal hours.

“For the government it is useless adding extra beds in hospitals if there will be no nurses to attend to the patients using them,” Pace said.

“The nursing profession is the only profession which is caring for our patients 24/7, and the demands and sheer scale of the work ahead of us is something that none of us have ever experienced,” he said.

“All countries affected by the coronavirus have appealed for the nursing work force to be protected by adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and for other incentives to be provided. Statistics have shown that, in affected countries, 8% of the nursing work force contacted the coronavirus in their line of duty.”

Pace appealed to the Prime Minister to seriously consider MUMN’s proposals.

“These proposals could save the lives of a lot of people. There is a great possibility that the management of every hospital will face the difficulty of not having enough nurses to cater for the much needed care, so please, in the name of the nurses and patients, consider MUMN’s proposals.”