A Country-Wide nurse strike is set to take effect at 7:00AM on Tuesday morning following the stalling of talks between the Treasury and Health Ministry and the Nurses Union. The Strike will affect all departments in all of the hospitals throughout Israel, as well as all of the public and HMO run Health Clinics. Surgical rooms will operate on an emergency protocol with a minimum of manpower.

The Health Ministry said that they will approach the Labor Court in an attempt to obtain an injunction preventing the strike.

In addition to the surgical wards and ICU’s in hospitals that will be running with minimum staff, other departments that will have minimum staff will include, NICUs, maternity wards, birthing wards, dialysis wards, oncology departments, fertility departments, and others. Geriatric and psychiatric hospitals will still operate but with a skeleton crew. Each hospital will be setting up an emergency staff and a committee of exceptional cases who will still receive treatments.

For those who are supposed to give blood samples the  public is being asked to head to Health Ministry offices in order to have their blood drawn.

The nurses are striking over the intent to cut their wages after having asked that extra staff be added to shifts across the country in order to deal with the already existing shortage of manpower. The nurses are fighting for beds to be removed from hallways and for a reorganizing of the examination and accreditation process that has caused an immense buildup of tasks and procedures that are being heaped on them.

Currently, the recurring accreditation process mandated by the Health Ministry for any hospital to maintain its license, require all medical staff, and mainly the nurses to pass a series of tests every three years. The nurses claim that the standards of the tests, which are handed out by the U.S. based JCI organization, are far too demanding and  unrealistic.

200 nurses protested outside the Health Ministry offices in Jerusalem on Monday evening following the breakdown in talks. The nurses demanded that “if the hospitals are to meet U.S.standards then they should have as many staff positions available and workers to fill them as U.S. hospitals do.”

A spokesperson for the nurses union said: “The nurses in Israel are not forced laborers. We will no longer allow for work to be demanded of them that is outside of the standard norm and licensing. The addition of extra tasks, regulations, and oversight, cannot continue endlessly without the addition of extra staff positions in each ward and in every hospital and health clinic. While the wards in every hospital overflow their occupancy and the hallways continue to fill up with additional patients and beds beyond what is allowed by the licensing of the Health Ministry, the nurses are the ones who have to deal with it.”

A spokesperson for the  Health Ministry said: “Representatives of the country met with the nurses union with the goal of preventing harm from befalling the patients as a result fo the strike that is scheduled to take place tomorrow. During the meeting, a variety of constructive possibilities were raised that were all aimed at preventing the strike. Unfortunately, our efforts were not met with acceptance. The Ministry will approach the court tomorrow.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)