Convenio sobre el personal de enfermería 1977 (núm. 149)

Abstract

ILO Convention No. 149, despite being a minimum standard, seeks as its main objective the improvement of working conditions for nursing personnel, made up mostly of women. The progressive loss of quality of working life, already detected in the 1970s, led the ILO to develop a specific standard that would bet on taking into account the real problems that specifically identify the exercise of this job. However, many states have decided not to ratify the Convention, due, rather than its own content, to the rules of interpretation and application contained in the Recommendation No. 157, which does not bind states but implies guidance on how they should act in regulating the professional conditions of this group of workers. The consequences of this progressive loss of protection in the way it operates is leading to dangerous extremes, especially in African or Latin American countries: it´s not so much the loss of economic or social rights or the lack of coverage for the future, but issues that are identified with insufficient protection against risks to which, on a daily basis, they are exposed in the exercise of their duties. This is creating a really unwanted problem, such as quitting work, finding other alternative job expectations, but which at least ensure minimum levels of safety in their work.