Volunteer nurses are being asked by the Department of Health (D0H) to sign waivers in case they get infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), an official from a nurses’ group bared Tuesday.
In an interview with ANC, Filipino Nurses United President Maristela Abenojar decries the volunteer program of DOH adding that the nurses are being robbed of their benefits under the scheme.
“When they are offered volunteerism scheme, it deprives them of their basic right to just compensation and benefits,” she said.
She said the program is disadvantageous for nurses as they are being exposed to dangers while they are receiving meager compensation.
“With volunteer, they do not have (employer-employee) relationship. In fact, they are asked to sign a waiver wherein in case they are contracting the disease COVID-19, then the DOH has no responsibility over them. This is why we want them to be hired, hired with security of tenure,” Abenojar added.
The DOH, previously denied the allegations stressing that volunteers are entitled to receive benefits under the ‘Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.’
She pointed out that the government must address the shortage of healthcare workers and resolve the poor working conditions in some hospitals across the country.
“We have 200,000 unemployed nurses which can be tapped as our additional manpower but our government should offer them just benefits and salaries and security of tenure, not as volunteers,” Abenojar underlined.
She added that the crisis magnified the shortage of health workers in the country and the need to compensate them well.
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