Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149) - Uruguay (Ratification: 1980)

Other comments on C149

Observation

Direct Request

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Article 2 of the Convention. National policy concerning nursing services and nursing personnel. Concerning the problem of nursing migration, the Committee notes the detailed statistical information provided by the Government concerning the number of licensed nurses as well as the number of persons entering or graduating nursing schools every year. The Committee notes that, according to a 2011 study of the Ministry of Public Health (DT No. 3/11), while the actual number of nurses has increased by 5.5 per cent (the ratio nurse-to-population having passed from 13 nurses per 10,000 inhabitants in 2008 to 15 nurses per 10,000 inhabitants in 2012), this increase is not sufficient to address the nursing deficit. The Committee would like to draw the Government’s attention, in this respect, to the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel which recommends (paragraphs 5.4 to 5.7) that Member States should consider to take effective measures to educate, retain and sustain a health workforce that is appropriate for the specific conditions of each country; should consider strengthening educational institutions to scale up the training of health personnel; should consider adopting measures for the continuous monitoring of the health labour market; and should consider adopting measures to address the geographical maldistribution of health workers and to support their retention in underserved areas, such as through the application of educational measures, financial incentives, regulatory measures, social and professional support. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional information on specific measures, programmes or initiatives designed to address the shortage of nurses in the country.

Article 5. Participation of nursing personnel in the planning of nursing services. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to Decree No. 219/2009 of 11 May 2009, which regulates the services of licensed nurses in public and private health-care institutions, and which requires in section 2 that health-care institutions organize their services in cooperation with the Department of Nurses. In addition, the Committee notes that the Integrated National Health System (SNIS), which was established under Act No. 18.211 of 21 November 2007, provides for the setting up of a National Health Board (JUNASA) which is responsible for managing the National Health Security and setting the objectives of the SNIS. Pursuant to section 25 of this Act, a health worker’s representative is included among the seven members of the Board. Finally, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that within the Nurses Human Resources administration, which helps to implement high quality in health, a new Division for Evaluating and Monitoring the Human Resources in Health has been established as a part of the Ministry of Public Health (MSP). Noting that under the new human resource development policies introduced as from 2009–10, priority attention is given to the development of the health workforce, the Committee requests the Government to provide additional explanations on the role and practical contribution of the professional organizations representing nursing personnel to the elaboration and implementation of policies regarding the nursing profession and the determination of terms and conditions of employment for nursing personnel.