Students of Dhaka Medical Nursing College staged demonstration demanding the removal of Director General of Nursing and Midwifery Directorate Maksura Noor for insulting the nursing profession and the nurses.
The students formed a human chain and staged demonstration in front of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on Saturday.
About 500 students took part at the demonstration led by coordinator Mohammad Sabbir Mahmud.
The agitators said that nurses have been suffering from administrative discrimination for a long time, against which they are preparing to take a strict movement. Their next programme will be announced through a press conference on Sunday.
They also warned that if their demands are ignored, they will go on strike or take more drastic measures.
The agitating nurses said that during the crisis in the country's health sector, such as the corona epidemic, dengue and other health emergencies, they worked at the front line risking their lives. But still their professional skills and experience are not properly evaluated. Rather, the process of excluding them from administrative positions and appointing other officers is hindering the professional development of nurses. As a result, the quality of healthcare in the country is also suffering.
Protesters' anger intensified when a non-nursing administrative officer was appointed as registrar of the nursing department on September 12. Nurses complained that such actions are diminishing their professional status and devaluing their skills.
Nurses believe that this crisis can be solved by appointing their own professionals in administrative positions, which will help them in their professional development and improve the quality of healthcare.
Earlier on September 8, Director General of Nursing and Midwifery Directorate Maksura Noor made a controversial comment, where she termed the decision to give 2nd class status to nurses based on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's announcement as 'wrong'.
