Anuradha Athavale needs no introduction among the nursing fraternity. Born in Baramati, she came to Pune to study nursing and later joined Sassoon General Hospital as a nurse where she served the patients with love and care for 28 years before retirement.
Anuradha Athavale needs no introduction among the nursing fraternity. Born in Baramati, she came to Pune to study nursing and later joined Sassoon General Hospital as a nurse where she served the patients with love and care for 28 years before retirement. In 1975, Athavale was instrumental in forming the Maharashtra Nurses Federation, which fights for the cause of nurses working in government-managed hospitals. She is so popular that she is still continuing as the president of the federation. On the eve of International Nurses Day, Athavale tells Kiran Dahitule about the problems faced by nurses of the state and about the federation’s struggle that works for the welfare of nurses.
What kind of problems do nurses face in their profession?
The treatment meted out to the nurses by the employers is not at all good. Most of the nurses are female and there are hundreds of instances when they are ill-treated and insulted by the employers on one pretext or the other. So what is happening is that gradually less number of girls are opting for nursing as a career. Moreover, the nurses are poorly paid. They work zealously day in, day out, sacrificing their social and personal lives to heal patients. But nurses never get their due recognition, appreciation and salaries as well. There are cases where in nurses working in government hospitals are forcibly transferred due to which they face problems.
What is the Maharashtra Nurses Federation doing to tackle the problems of the nurses?
The services offered by nurses to the patients are something that no other person can do. And if this job is so important, the nurses should be treated in a better way. But sadly that is not happening and hence nurses are forced to go on strikes. The government is paying scant attention to the woes of the nurses that is forcing them to opt for agitations. We have been writing to the authorities on different issues. We have also moved to the court on some matters. If the nurses resort to indefinite strike, patients would be the real sufferers. The authorities must understand this and pay heed to our problems.
Are nurses working in government hospitals shifting to private hospitals for better salaries?
No, it is the other way round. Many nurses who are in the private sector are struggling to get jobs in government hospitals. Unlike other sectors, nurses from private hospitals look forward to work in government hospitals. Being a nurse, most of the women consider government jobs to be the best option as they face more problems in private hospitals.
What is the message you would wish to give on the occasion of Nurses Day?
On the occasion of Nurses Day, I would like to appeal to girls to choose nursing as a career option. The satisfaction that one gets in treating and healing a patient cannot be described in words. Even if you do not wish to work in hospitals, you can start a creche, which is an important requirement of today’s society. You can take care of the children there. The nurse’s training will help in such kind of ventures.
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