The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses yesterday held a press conference, which many likened to the usual ranting which comes from the union’s leadership.

Let us state categorically, from the beginning, that there are problems in our health care system and yes, it is the nurses which have to deal with them on a daily basis. The government should listen to the plight of nurses more and yes, they should have staff levels boosted. But, as we have said time and time again, militancy, ranting and bullish industrial action is not the way to go about it.

Let us forget the union for a minute and concentrate on the nurses themselves. They are over-worked, over-stressed, unappreciated and, perhaps hardest of all, they face the daily threat of abuse or spillover of emotions from grieving or worried relatives of patients.

The government was caught napping when the move to Mater Dei Hospital created much more work for nurses. What needs to be understood is that with a state-of-the-art hospital (which yes, is too small), comes new responsibilities. Nurses now have the added workload of operating equipment which was previously not available – in short, their lives got a lot more hectic; not that they weren’t before. But, the government did respond and after drafting in foreign nurses to shore up the numbers, it began to encourage others to enter the profession.

Nursing, like policing, army life and fishing, among many others, is a vocation. Neither of the aforementioned professions are well paid; the hours are long, the stress and dangers are amplified and there is just not enough appreciation for the people that take the plunge and perform these essential tasks.

Those who do enter the field, do it for another reason – that inexplicable dedication to a cause that many of us never experience in our lives. They do it because they love it and it fulfils them. But, we have to question the union once more. Granted, more nurses are needed, but an induction course for local students has been launched. What we cannot understand, is why the union is crying out for additional nurses, but in the same breath seems hell-bent on scaring them off before they even start.

The union needs to continue to push for better conditions for nurses, but it should not do so on the tack it is currently plotting. The union accuses the government of refusing to discuss issues and vice versa. The truth is probably somewhere in between.

What the government needs is to press ahead with the development of the Oncology Centre and find more budget allocation to engage more nurses and improve their lot, re-assemble primary care and invest in more bed space. What the union needs to do is stop bickering, moaning and shooting everything down before it even takes off. More than anything, it must stop taking the attitude that it is, because it is reflecting badly on the nurses in the field – the ones who have to deal with the fallout from this bitter dispute day after day, on the wards, facing patients and their families.