By: Lea Kalc Furlanič
The Professional Association of Nursing and Midwifery Care Providers of Slovenia addressed a request to the Ministry of Health, the Chamber of Nursing and Midwifery of Slovenia (Association of Professional Societies of Nurses, Midwives and Medical Technicians) and the Prime Minister to recall the order of prof. dr. Brigita Skela Savič from the position of the representative of Slovenian nurses in the International Association of Nurses, as she – even though she is a professor at the Faculty of Medicine – publicly calls for participation in Friday’s protest, where the risk of human infection is so much higher.
“This kind of calling to the streets, where there is a high possibility of spreading SARS CoV2 infection, is very inappropriate in these times. Especially if such a gathering is invited by a prominent person in the field of nursing in our country, a person who was even appointed to represent Slovenian nurses in the International Association of Nurses,” the Professional Association of Nursing and Midwifery Care Providers of Slovenia wrote in a letter to three important addressees. This association is the only unified professional and non-profit association that unites all providers of nursing and midwifery in our country.
“Given that we feel a very high shortage of nursing staff in our country, when all nursing staff invest in countering the spread of the covid-19 epidemic on a daily basis with all our strength, when we focus all our energies on working in extended shifts, when we work in small teams, such a call from a person who should be an example to all of us is almost rude, humiliating, unethical and to some extent even a criminal action,” the association point out.
And they continue: “We will not go into her potential political motives that fuelled this call, but we seriously condemn this call of hers, at a time when, in the absence of staff, she should join us in our communities within obvious departments, not at a protest rally!”
The association also points out: “Since we believe that a person with such characteristics is not suitable for representing Slovenian nurses in the world’s highest professional body, and because a person may even deserve a criminal complaint by calling for such actions, we demand to seriously consider her further role in the International Association of Nurses and to recall her immediately from there due to public maliciousness during the greatest health crisis. We also ask that both the Ministry of Health and the government to be actively involved in resolving this.”
We asked all three addressees for their opinion or response to the call for dismissal, and we are still waiting for their answers.