Survey: Some Nurses Conceal Identities to Avoid Social Exclusion

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A statement spread in social media coming from Dr. Pompini Agustina Sitompul from the Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital (RSPI Sulianti Saroso) Infection, and head of the emerging and re-emerging disease workgroup, recalled the disheartening story faced by nurses and healthcare workers in the battle against COVID-19. 

The doctor’s statement was quoted by the Jakarta provincial government’s Instagram account @dkijakarta on Monday which read:

“Lately, healthcare workers have been subjected to rejections from the public, mainly those who work in COVID-19 referral hospitals. Us healthcare workers always are equipped with protective equipment and always sterilize ourselves before safely returning home to our families.”

The public’s social exclusion against healthcare workers was more than just conjecture as it is proven in the survey done by the University of Indonesia’s faculty of nursing and the Indonesian Mental Health Nurse Association that found hundreds of nurses had been publically humiliated due to their status as caregivers for COVID-19 patients. 

“And instead of feeling proud of becoming heroes, many of them chose to hide their nurse status,” said the Indonesian Mental Health Nurse Association Head research division Herni Susanti. “This survey proves that there is in fact rejections aimed at nurses which corroborate with news reports by the media.” 

The survey was done from April 2020 on 2,050 nurses in Indonesia showed that 140 nurses had once been humiliated for helping treat COVID-19 patients while another 135 claims to have been asked to leave a certain location due to the same reason. 

M YUSUF MANURUNG | FRISKI RIANA | PRIBADI WICAKSONO