Nurses denounce shift plans

NURSING staff at Manacor hospital are denouncing plans by the centre management to reduce shifts from 12 to seven hours.

The Nurses’ Assembly warns that the move “does not take into account the special timetable characteristics at Manacor hospital,” according to spokespeople. They add that the 12hour shifts were implemented when the centre was opened in what was a pioneering move in the Balearic Islands, and that they allow nursing staff to reconcile their professional and personal lives “in a more balanced way that compensates for the physical and mental effort involved in our workload and the pressure we are subjected to on a daily basis,” as well as reducing the cost of transport and providing them with more flexible working hours.

The Assembly also explains that for a long time they have been enduring a “very delicate situation” due to a lack of personnel to adjust patient ­ to ­ personnel ratios, which “entails a high risk for the health of patients” and for the nurses themselves, who are forced to endure