Iran, Aug. 8, 2017 – Iranian nurses’ nationwide protest rallies were held on Sunday, August 6th in Tehran and other major cities in the country including Isfahan, Ahvaz, and Rasht. They were protesting a new government plan to train nurses on the job in hospitals.
In Tehran, dozens of nurses gathered in front of the Ministry of Health building where agents of the Revolutionary Guards surrounding the Ministry had blocked the road in front of the building. They had set up roadblocks from hours earlier and before the gathering took place to prevent the protesters from converging against the ministry.
The protesters carried banners calling for hospitals to stop the training courses in the hospital as it is planned.
Nurses gathered in front of the Ministry of Health building in Tehran
In Isfahan, nurses gathered to protest against the injustice inflicted upon them through salary discrimination and forced overtime and long hours at the hospitals, while less paid compared to other similar jobs in the country. Nurses are underpaid compared to other similar works in the job market.
Nurses’ gathering in the city of Isfahan
In Ahwaz, nurses’ association organized a protest gathering at 9 am Sunday, Aug. 6th in front of the University of Jondi Shapour Medical Sciences, demanding an end to the new government plan of training new nurses in hospitals.
The nurses gathered in Ahvaz
While in the city of Rasht, in Gilan province, nursing students gathered in front of the medical college of Jondi-Shapour University to protest the discriminatory plan by the government to hire unprofessional nurses and train them for a few months on the job in hospitals with almost the same salaries and benefits of professional nursing students who have gone through intensive university courses. They say this plan is unfair to them.
