The Bahamas Nurses Union is set to have a demonstration this morning at 10  o’clock in response to the Public Hospitals Authority’s (PHA) announcement of shift changes for nurses.

Last week the PHA’s Managing Director Catherine Weech told reporters that the new shift system will eliminate the inequity caused by the four nights on/ four nights off shifts which resulted in night duty nurses working  157 days compared to 234 days per year on average for all nurses.

She added that the new shift system would establish a 40 hour work week and an eight hour daily shift rather than the current 10 hour shift for night duty nurses.

The BNU President Amancha Williams  said  this past weekend that the union is not in agreement with the shift change, adding that if they are to change anything, “change to something better, not less favorable”.

Ms. Williams also described the additional $1.75 premium for nurses on the night shift as an insult adding that the PHA is insensitive towards nurses.

The demonstration this morning will take place at the critical care block at the Princess Margaret Hospital.