KATHMANDU, Jan 16: The Nursing Association of Nepal (NAN), the umbrella organization of nurses across the country, has threatened of a nationwide protest presenting a 11-point demand including a demand for salary hike for nurses and reinstatement of three nurses who were sacked by the government from the Human Organ Transplant Centre (HOTC), Bhaktapur. 

The association has threatened to stop even emergency services at the hospitals if their demands are not heeded.

“We will halt services even in the emergency services if the government fails to address their demands,” said Apsara Pandey, vice-president of the NAN, on Tuesday.

There are about 74,000 nurses in Nepal.

Already, nurses have been stopping work for one-three hours every day from January 12 in order to pressure the government into fulfilling their demands. They have demanded dress allowance, extra allowance for working at night, more day-offs, paid educational leave and salaries on par with government scale for nurses working in private hospitals.

The nurses started protests after HOTC fired three nurses from the Bhaktapur-based government health facility.

Prajina Jati, Sajana Deula and Sapana Deula lost their jobs at HOTC on November 27 after the Ministry of Health refused to renew their contracts. 

 
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