The Secretary General of the Fiji Nursing Association, Filomena Talawadua, is calling on the government to give nurses what they deserve.

Salary package is one of the major issues, apart from other reasons why nurses are leaving the ministry.

“Yes, of course, I would if it were up to me. I would just say please give them what they are worth; give them what they are entitled to keep them here. Most of them won’t want to go, but they just have to go because they have families and they have commitments to honour, so they leave.”

Talawadua says they are currently working with all nursing stakeholder groups, including nursing leaders at the Ministry of Health and other nursing leaders at other nursing fraternities.

This is to try and put together something that the government will look into to address the plight of nurses in the country.