Murcia nurses push for early retirement citing “painful and dangerous working conditions”

MORE than 500 nurses from the Region of Murcia applied individually to take early retirement, letters sent to the Minister of Social Security, Jose Luis Escriva, have revealed.

It is believed that 20,000 nurses throughout Spain wrote to Mr Escriva to demand that the Government enable them to take early retirement because of the “painful and dangerous working conditions they have suffered for more than 40 years.”

The letters sent asking the Government for their voluntary early retirement, which was supported by the Nurses’ Union, SATSE, also stated that because of the poor working conditions, “they have a negative effect on their health and the care they provide to more than 47 million people.”

The letters from the nurses also emphasised that their work involves continuity of care, which means that they have to work 24 hours a day, every day of the year – some for more than 40 years.

“This, according to numerous international and national scientific studies, affects their performance and produces alterations in their biological balance, having very negative effects on their health, both physical and mental, as well as making it very difficult to reconcile their work, personal and family life,” SATSE said.

SATSE also reiterated that access to early retirement improves patient and resident care and the health system as a whole, given that nurses, due to the nature of their work and its complexity, need specific expertise and skills, as well as a state of permanent alertness and vigilance that is affected by the natural ageing of people.

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