The government is correcting the situation of nurses who were not given points

The Government has corrected the situation of hundreds of senior nurses, supervisors, specialists and trainers who were left without scoring to improve performance assessments due to legislative changes, the Nurses Union (NU) said on Monday.

The Nurses’ Union said in a statement that the ACSS sent out the decision to various health institutions in a message earlier this month, which SE had access to, albeit unofficially.

“After a wide range of activities, the Union of Nurses has finally recognized the right to advanced training of nurses who have transferred to the category of specialized nurses as a result of competitions held after December 1, 2005,” he emphasizes.

SE President Pedro Costa states that many nurses “were surpassed in remuneration by colleagues who in these competitions did not gain access to a higher category” as a result of the application of Decree-Law No. 80-B/2022, which aimed to unfreeze performance evaluations.

What happened in practice was that nurses who advanced to a higher category in competitions held after December 31, 2004, “saw their performance scores go back to zero,” he explains.

When performance appraisals were unfrozen, “nurses who did not advance to a higher category in these competitions scored higher and therefore were in a better position and received higher salaries” after the decree-law was applied.

What the ACSS directive now says, explains Pedro Costa, “is essentially what the Nurses Union has defended in various meetings with the Minister of Health Ricardo Mestre: nurses who have qualified in this category after 31 December 2004 must have points. up to this date shall be counted for purposes of progress in the performance assessment.”

“In this way, social justice is restored”, emphasizes Pedro Costa, recalling that “colleagues, despite great technical differentiation in their careers, were replaced by others with less differentiation due to legislative changes and, above all, the decree-law that unfrozen the performance appraisal.” .

Pedro Costa emphasizes that this situation has caused “huge discomfort in the classroom”, especially among nurses who have invested in postgraduate training.

In addition to applying to specialist nurses, this provision should also apply to senior nurses and senior nurses who have advanced in their careers after 31 December 2004, “and to all nurses who, in the performance of their duties, are responsible for service training for a period of three or more years.”

“In all cases where, as a result of the application of the Decree-Law (…) there has been a change in remuneration positions, the situation will have to be corrected,” asserts Pedro Costa, regretting that it was necessary “more than one year and an election period, so that the Ministry of Health Finally realized my mistake.”

Pedro Costa reminds that there are other demands that must be urgently implemented, including “the conclusion of negotiations for the first Collective Labor Agreement for nurses, which have been stopped since 2017.”