PGIMER Nurses Cry Foul: Overburdened Despite ‘Full Staff’
The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, faces a brewing crisis despite officially maintaining full nurse staffing levels. The PGI Nurses’ Union alleges that outdated staffing norms and a significant number of vacancies, particularly in senior positions, are leading to dangerously high workloads.
This chronic overwork is impacting not only the well-being of the nursing staff but also, critically, the quality of patient care. Nurses are reporting burnout and exhaustion, raising serious concerns about potential medical errors.
The union’s demands are clear: immediate revision of the outdated staffing norms to reflect current patient load and workload realities. Crucially, they are calling for urgent recruitment drives to fill existing vacancies and a streamlined promotion process to ensure a sufficient number of experienced nurses in supervisory roles.
The situation highlights a systemic issue within many public healthcare institutions across the nation. The lack of adequate staffing and outdated norms threaten the very foundation of quality healthcare delivery, demanding immediate attention from policymakers to prevent a further deterioration of patient care standards.
