September 06, 2019
A video showing a nurse being beaten by a physician in a private hospital in Shiraz has elicited protests from the Iran Nursing Organization, an officially recognized professional council.
Radio Farda reported on the story but said it could not verify the authenticity of the video, circulating on social media. But a representative of the nursing group in Shiraz said a neurosurgeon, after speaking on the phone from home with a nurse at the intensive care unit, came to the hospital and began beating the nurse in charge of the shift.
According to the same source, the beating continued for 20 minutes until the police arrived.
Mohammad Sharifi-Mo-ghaddam, a national representative of the nurses, told the Mehr news agency that this was not the only incident of violence against nurses. In another case, the family of a patient attacked and beat up a nurse in a government hospital. This has led to “deep concern and anxiety” among nurses nationwide, he said.
Nurses in Iran work for low pay with long hours imposed because the country is very short of the needed number of nurses.