Health Ministry: Only Two Nurses Stick to Notices in Martin

Bratislava, February 15 (TASR) – Only two nurses out of 160 who originally filed resignation notices as part of a mass move at Martin University Hospital (Zilina region) have left their notices in place as of March 1, Health Ministry spokesman Peter Bubla told TASR on Monday.

According to the spokesman, last week there were still 36 nurses on notice, but 34 of them decided to change their mind by the end of the week.

“The Health Ministry welcomes this decision of nurses to return to their patients,” said Bubla.

UNM public relations manager Katarina Kapustova reported that all the aforementioned nurses who withdrew their resignations did so while their notice periods were still running – so, the hospital was working in an unchanged regimen all the time.

Some dozen hospitals – especially those in Presov, Zilina and Trnava – have suffered from the mass resignations of nurses, who are unhappy with their remuneration and the overall situation in health care. “Our quality labour force may leave Slovakia within a few years – this is a major problem,” said president of the Chamber of Nurses and Midwives (SKSaPA) Iveta Lazorova last week, adding that while nurses aren’t paid properly in Slovakia, there’s great interest in them abroad.