Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149) - Russian Federation (Ratification: 1979)

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Development and implementation of a policy concerning nursing services and nursing personnel. The Committee notes the Government’s very brief report. It notes with regret that it does not provide any new information concerning the follow-up to the Sectorial Development Programme for Nursing (2001–05) and the Sectorial Employment Assistance Programme for Medical and Pharmaceutical Workers (2001–03), to which it referred in a previous report. The Committee understands that several cooperation activities have been undertaken with development agencies from countries such as Canada and the United States with a view to assisting the Ministry of Health and the Russian Nursing Association to establish a strategy for the restructuring of health care, among other measures, through the establishment of new standards for training, standardized clinical procedures and new organizational models. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on these activities, whether they are undertaken at the national or regional level, and particularly on their impact on the working conditions of nursing personnel. The Committee also reiterates its previous request on the implementation, results and follow-up action of the Sectorial Development Programme for Nursing (2001–05).

Article 2(2)(b). Remuneration of nursing personnel. Further to its previous comments on this point, the Committee notes that the Government has not provided any further information on the envisaged reform of the pay system for nursing personnel which is reported to be based on flexible systems of performance bonuses allowing health care institutions to reward good performance, retain high-quality specialists and encourage the personnel to achieve specific targets. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide detailed information on the current pay system and the level of remuneration of nursing personnel, taking into account the special characteristics of the profession, and to indicate whether employment conditions, including remuneration, are likely to attract persons to the profession and retain them in it.

Article 5. Participation of nursing personnel in the planning of nursing services. The Committee notes that the Government has not provided any further information concerning bodies which would allow nursing personnel to participate in the planning of nursing services, namely nursing councils, the Institute of Nursing Specialists and the Nursing Council. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide a copy of the text establishing the Nursing Council and regulating its composition and mandate, and to provide further information on the operation and principal activities undertaken by these bodies.

Article 7. Occupational health and safety. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the Government has not provided any information concerning the Programme for the Improvement of Working Conditions and the Health and Safety of Health Workers (2002–05), to which it referred in its last report. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide updated information on this Programme, including its results, its impact on the working conditions of nursing personnel and on any other programme implemented since 2005 in this field.

The Committee also wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the Joint ILO/WHO guidelines on health services and HIV/AIDS, published in 2005, with a view to helping health services reinforce their capacity to provide their workers with a healthy and decent working environment as the most effective means of both reducing HIV transmission and improving the provision of care to patients. The Committee also wishes to refer to the discussion at the International Labour Conference in June 2009 on the theme “HIV/AIDS and the world of work” with a view to the adoption of an international labour Recommendation, and in particular to Paragraph 37 of the draft conclusions (see ILC, 98th Session, 2009, Report IV(2), page 300), which indicates that public health systems should be strengthened, where appropriate, in order to ensure greater access to prevention, treatment, care and support, and to reduce the additional strain on public services, particularly on health workers, caused by HIV/AIDS. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any measure that may be adopted or envisaged with a view to improving the protection of nursing personnel against infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the detailed statistical information provided by the Government concerning the numbers of nursing personnel at the intermediary level. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue providing general indications on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including, for example, statistics on the numbers of nursing personnel, disaggregated, where possible, by level of training and function, sex and age, their relation to the population, the numbers entering and leaving the profession each year, copies of official reports or studies covering nursing services, information on any practical difficulties encountered in the implementation of the Convention, such as the shortage or migration of nursing personnel.