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Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149) - Fiji (RATIFICATION: 2008)

Other comments on C149

Direct Request

2019
2013
2011

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Article 1(3) of the Convention. Nursing personnel. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether any special rules concerning nursing personnel giving nursing care and nursing services on a voluntary basis have been established and if so, to provide additional information on the manner in which employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned were consulted and to supply a copy of those provisions.

Article 2(2). National policy. The Committee notes that both the Ministry of Health’s Strategic Plan for 2011–15 and the Ministry of Health’s Annual Corporate Plan for 2011 acknowledge the need for policies focusing on staff retention. However, it appears that neither of them contains specific measures on improving the terms and conditions of employment of nursing personnel. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to further elaborate on policies and measures seeking to ensure that nursing personnel is offered employment and working conditions, including possibilities of professional advancement and levels of remuneration, that are likely to attract persons in the profession and to retain them in it.

Article 3. Nursing education and training. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Nurses Decree, currently under review, should soon repeal the Nurses, Midwives and Nurse Practitioners Act, 1999, and implement a competency-based training. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional information on the content and purpose of the new draft legislation and to transmit a copy of the Nurses Decree once it has been adopted.

Article 5(1). Planning of nursing services. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that nursing personnel in the public sector participates in the planning of nursing services, through regular meetings at subdivisional, divisional and national levels. However, no information is supplied on the manner in which participation and consultation of nursing personnel employed in the private sector is ensured. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide additional information on any specific measures ensuring the participation of nursing personnel employed in the private sector in the planning of nursing services and the consultation with such personnel on decisions concerning them.

Article 5(2). Determination of conditions of employment. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that in the private sector, the terms and conditions of work are negotiated individually between the employer and the nurse. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to provide additional information on any steps taken to promote collective bargaining in the private health sector, as seems to be the case in the public sector.

Article 6. Conditions of work. The Committee notes that the Government does not specify in its report whether the Employment Relations Promulgation, 2007 applies also to nursing personnel or whether their conditions of work are regulated by special laws or regulations. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide clarifications in this regard. The Committee would also appreciate receiving copies of the General Orders applicable to nursing personnel in the public sector.

Article 7. Occupational health and safety. The Committee notes that neither the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1996 and its Regulations nor the National Code of Practice for HIV/AIDS in the Workplace, 2008 contain any specific measures addressing the special occupational safety and health risks faced by nursing personnel. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate any concrete measures taken or envisaged to improve the existing legislation on occupational safety and health by adapting it to the special nature of nursing work and of the environment in which it is carried out.