Our Frontline Worker of the Week is… Nurse Mellissa Gilbert
“Frontline workers often carry out some tasks that many find too sleepy and scandalous to do. We go beyond the call of duty and, with this pandemic, we endanger our lives and the lives of our families constantly to protect others. “
By Vanessa Braithwaite
Kaieteur News – Navigating a pandemic has been challenging for everyone, but for frontline healthcare workers, it has presented unprecedented challenges that have proven their true love for the profession in many ways. For the nurses in Linden, as well as informing the trials that came with providing services in trying to protect themselves against the COVID-19 infectious virus, they were forced to endure even more battles. This included but was not limited to the lack of some resources, especially Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) which would have at least made them feel safer at risk to their lives.
Nurse Mellissa Gilbert.
As a result, the nurses took to the streets in October last year to protest about risk allowances and better working conditions. They have recently found themselves back on the streets calling for, among other things, better working conditions.
Ignoring this new wave of protests were derogatory comments made by the CEO of Linden Hospital Complex (LHC), Rudolph Small. He had said the nurses would leave their jobs in the evening to get involved in extra-marital affairs.
: A passionate nurse on a noble mission.
This was announced, this announcement was made, by recorded interview.
For the nurses, this has been too much to bear. Although they have returned to work many times in the past after protesting, they are now taking part in one for the “long haul” and this, they said, will continue until their demands are met . These include removing Small CEOs, improving their working conditions in relation to timely drug delivery, PPE, better representation and increased earnings, including the provision of a risk allowance.
ON THE FRONT
One brave and revolutionary nurse, Mellissa Gilbert, has been at the forefront of the protest and has been representing her colleagues in any possible forum. This Registered Nurse has been protesting from day one, even bragging the weather to lead her colleagues in the various marches across the mining town
. The move in this direction, says Nurse Gilbert, is a deliberate attempt by the nurses to make their voices heard to the relevant authorities.
But Gilbert is now among a set of protesting nurses who have all received correspondence stating their absence from duty to participate in the ongoing protest operation. The nurses have been warned that their pay will be cut as a result.
However, the very young and passionate Nurse Gilbert believes that frontline workers, like nurses, should be respected at all costs. “Frontline workers are human beings and respect is a human right. As Lauryn Hill (the singer) said, ‘respect is only a minimum’ and what has been said about us is not only disrespectful but damaging to our character, “he said.
“Frontline workers provide too much invaluable service, especially during a pandemic, to talk about it being so highly regarded,” he added.
She also said, “Frontline workers often carry out some tasks that many are too sleepy and mocked to do. We go beyond the call of duty and, with this pandemic, we endanger our lives and the lives of our families constantly to protect others. “
NOBLE CASE
The importance of the protest, he said, is “to provide a voice and platform for a group of revolutionaries and while their jobs may be on the line for the time being, it is important to continue, to create that change for those to enter profession in years to come. ”
Gilbert said she has joined nursing to make a difference in people’s lives and will fight for any cause that will enable her to make that difference effectively and efficiently. With the current circumstances in the hospital, he said, “a nurse is only going to work for a time, but when you can’t provide that quality of healthcare because everything is scarce, then it does someone’s mandate powerless. ”
“I joined the field because I wanted to do something that is interesting, challenging and makes a difference in people’s lives. My mother’s dream was to become a nurse, but she never had the opportunity … instead she gave me that opportunity and is now living that dream through me but forced labor at LHC creates unfavorable working conditions and causes us undue stress. It is difficult for any individual to operate efficiently in an environment that is not comfortable, ”he suggested.
He continued, he said, “there is still a lack of resources, and at present, we are being persecuted and threatened with pay cuts for absence for the time we are engaged in industrial action.”
It is NOT PROPOSED
Earlier in the pandemic, Gilbert noted that nurses were being harassed by police officers as they made their way home from work. She also recalled instances where members of the public were discriminating against them. But the worse treatment, he said, has been the “persecution” considered by those in authority “who are supposed to guide and represent us.” This, Gilbert said, she and her colleagues cannot come to grips with. ”
The CEO, he said, was rehoused by the Ministry of Health a day after he was fired for his derogatory remarks. Ever since, he added, the nurses have not been employed by anyone in authority in the Ministry of Health.
However, a few weeks ago, the nurses met with the Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips, and Public Works Minister Juan Edghill. They were able to voice their concerns then. In fact, Gilbert said, they were promised that the allegations put forward will be investigated. To date, he noted, no one has reached out to the nurses. Instead, he said, they were slapped with letters informing them of pay cuts and dismissal on the third strike of notice.
But Gilbert has claimed that neither she nor the other nurses will be intimidated by anyone whose intention is to disrespect or disregard their rights, even as she commits to “continue to take the front seat in battle. for improvement. ”