Supporting nurses should be accompanied by practical measures

The head of the Health Committee of Tehran City Council emphasized the necessity of practical support for the nursing community.

According to the report of Ambassador Arjan Sodeh Najafi, in a conversation with Tehran Radio, while congratulating Hazrat Zainab (PBUH) on the blessed birthday and Nurse's Day, he said: improving living conditions, facilitating access to housing and transportation, and paying attention to the mental health of nurses are among the measures that should be followed seriously.

Referring to his career in the nursing profession, he said: I worked in the clinical field and the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for many years, and after that I took over the management of the Labafinejad hospital clinic. Therefore, I am closely familiar with the difficulties of this profession and the heavy responsibility of nurses.

Stating that there is a gap between the heavy responsibility of nurses and the level of support given to them, Najafi added: "Nurses deal with human lives, but livelihood concerns, the pressure of work shifts and constant fatigue can make the conditions of service more difficult for them." The cost of housing and other living expenses in the metropolis of Tehran also puts additional pressure on this group.

The head of the health committee of the Tehran Islamic Council stated: "Nurses cannot be expected to take care of patients with all their strength, but they themselves do not have suitable and high-quality living conditions." Support for this group should be proportional to their sensitive responsibility and not limited to practical measures.

Referring to the limits of city administration powers in the field of nursing, Najafi said: Hiring staff and hospital payments are mainly under the responsibility of the Ministry of Health and related institutions, but the city administration can act within the framework of its legal duties to improve the welfare and urban conditions of nurses and follow up on their demands.

Referring to his meetings with the nursing system organization, he added: In these meetings, proposals were made to use the capacities of city management in order to solve the problems of nurses. One of these issues is the issue of housing, and in this context, we are following up on the problems of the nurses' housing cooperative in the 22nd region in order to check the available capacities to help solve their problems.

The member of the board of the Islamic Council of the city of Tehran considered the transportation problems of nurses as one of the other issues that can be pursued and stated: We are trying to reduce the transportation problems of this group by using the capacity of the Islamic Council of the city of Tehran, within the framework of the authority of urban management.

Referring to his plan from the beginning of the sixth term of Tehran Islamic Council for field visits to hospitals, Najafi said: In these visits, we talk with doctors, nurses and other employees of medical centers and follow up on their issues and problems within the framework of the duties and powers of the council.

Referring to the issue of shortage of nurses, he stated: The issue of recruiting nursing staff is not directly within the framework of the duties of the Tehran Islamic Council and city administration, but the Ministry of Health must take serious action to recruit new nurses and formulate a specific plan to maintain the existing staff.

Najafi added: "Unfortunately, some nurses resign from their jobs after some time due to existing problems and migrate to other countries, especially the Persian Gulf countries." If we do not plan to maintain the specialized forces, we may face more problems in this field in the future.

The member of the Tehran Islamic Council, emphasizing the joint responsibility of related institutions in this field, said: regular and fair payments, effective planning for work shifts and support for the mental health of nurses are among the measures that can be effective in improving working conditions and maintaining existing forces.

Najafi continued to inform about the use of city capacities to support mental health and improve the quality of life of nurses and said: In the Islamic Council of Tehran, we have followed up on the issue of using the capacity of stadiums, health centers and culture centers for this group so that nurses can benefit from sports, cultural and welfare facilities.

In the end, he emphasized: Nurses and health workers have a direct relationship with the health of citizens, and their support, in addition to the responsibility of the institutions in charge of the health system, should also be followed practically in areas related to the duties of urban management so that these valuable forces can serve the people with more peace and quality.