A survey taken among hundreds of nurses has revealed that more than three quarters of them are unhappy with their salaries, while only 3 percent are completely happy with their pay and 19 percent are relatively satisfied, said Slovak Nurses and Midwives Chamber (SKSaPA) head Iveta Lazorová at a press conference on Thursday.
According to the survey, the largest band (21 percent) includes nurses whose gross monthly salaries reach €601-700 per month, while 19 percent earn €701-800, another 19 percent receive €801-900, and 11 percent make €501-600. "There are even nurses in health care who have average monthly salaries of between €405-500 (2 percent) and even below €405 (1 percent)," said Lazorová. Meanwhile, nurses also complain about feeling jaded, with 45 percent in the survey stating that their employers don't observe norms concerning numbers of hospital patients per nurse. "Only one quarter of nurses don't have to work overtime," said Milan Laurinc, a member of the SKSaPA presidium and board.
Conversely, nurses' salaries have recently grown more rapidly than the average salary, stated the Health Ministry in response to the survey. Health Ministry spokesperson Zuzana Eliášová responded by saying that at the moment the average gross monthly salary of nurses working in health-care facilities that fall under the Health Ministry reaches almost €1,100 per month. Eliášová went on to say that Health Minister Tomas Drucker is ready to discuss the issue of the financial remuneration of nurses. "We view salary as an important motivating factor for health-care workers at all levels," said the ministry spokesperson, adding that a discussion concerning salaries should be initiated in the context of a proposal to increase nurses' responsibilities, which is due to be submitted to the Cabinet soon. Meanwhile, nurses also complained about feeling jaded, as only one quarter of them don't have to work overtime, revealed the survey. The Health Ministry stated that medical assistants whose responsibilities were increased recently should unburden the overworked nurses. "We've shifted part of their [nurses'] work to assistants, and we've had positive feedback from health-care providers in this regard," said Eliášová. Nurses claim the opposite, however, adding that this measure has only caused chaos at certain hospitals.
