Be Like Nina
Dear members of Be like Nina! We wish you a Happy New Year and hope that 2025 will be a victorious year on all fronts.
We take stock of the results of our work in 2024 and the priorities for the Movement's activities in the year ahead.
January - Be like Nina received numerous complaints from doctors about "psychological exhaustion" at work. We therefore organised a webinar to discuss why many nurses suffer from burnout and how to prevent it.
February - development of the Be like Nina strategic development plan for 2024-2027 and the organisational development plan. These documents reflect the organisation's activities.
March - A cooperation contract is signed with the German organisation Medico International. As part of the joint project, until 30 November 2024, we had the opportunity to provide legal and psychological support to members of the Movement, and to consult and train doctors.
April - The organisation takes part in the Congress organised by the French trade union Solidaires in Toulouse. Members of the Movement had the opportunity to address the 400 or so Solidaires activists present, who were informed about the real situation in Ukraine, the terrible war and its consequences.
May - The Medical Movement took part in a survey on the workload of Ukrainian nurses. Over a five-month period, more than 50 healthcare workers gave interviews in which they spoke anonymously about their terrible working conditions, the abuses committed by the administrations of medical institutions and their impunity. The results of this social research and analysis of the situation will be made public in 2025.
In addition, Be like Nina activists organised a training course on how doctors in different countries deal with a phenomenon as unpleasant as bedsores in seriously ill patients. It was posted on the movement's Facebook group.
On 10 May, to mark Nurses' Day, a round table organised by the Movement was held in Kyiv. Military and civilian doctors had the opportunity to share their problems and their visions of how to solve them.
June - Biannual English language courses were launched for members of the organisation as part of a project with Medico International. 29 members of the Movement took part in these courses.
On 8 and 9 June, Movement activists took part in the international conference "For a self-determined reconstruction of Ukraine". The event was held in Berlin, Germany, with the support of the Jakob Moneta Foundation. At the conference, the movement's director, Oksana Slobodiana, spoke about the activities of Be like Nina and the situation of Ukrainian doctors during the war. We agreed with German medical colleagues on cooperation and mutual support.
July - At a press conference in Kyiv, movement activists raised the issue of hospital closures in Ukraine. This particularly concerned medical facilities in the war zone. Movement activists publicly described how the government, under the pretext of "optimisation", is depriving doctors of their work and neglecting the interests of patients.
August - A three-month project to develop Be like Nina in conjunction with the Polish COZZ. The organisation now has 1,060 officially registered active members. Together, we're strong!
September - The Movement launches a new appeal to the Ministries of Health and Education concerning the low salaries of health professionals in education. In November, a response arrived: government officials said they were aware of the problem and were looking into ways of solving it.
October - In Prague, Be like Nina activists, who are trade unionists, exchanged experiences with their Czech and Slovak colleagues. In particular, they discovered the activities of the largest trade union in the Czech Republic working in the field of health care and social services.
Representatives from our Movement became members of the Network of NGOs for the Restoration of Democracy in Ukraine. On 24 October, in Kyiv, we took part in its founding meeting aimed at pooling the efforts, capacity and experience of associations in order to strengthen public participation in the recovery and reconstruction processes.
November - At a press conference in Lviv, Movement activists analysed the fairness and legality of the reorganisation of medical institutions. In particular, they discussed the closure of the Zaporizhzhia phthisopulmonary centre, which contravenes current legislation, and also raised the issue of the reorganisation of the Sosnivka rehabilitation centre in the Lviv region and the Vinnytsia maternity hospital.
In accordance with the Organisation's Charter, elections to the Movement's Board of Directors were held by secret ballot. It now has seven members: Oksana Slobodiana, Oleksiy Chupryna, Ruslana Mazurenok, Antonina Shatsylo, Olga Lisivets, Olga Movchan Turochca and Larisa Matrashak. Oksana Slobodiana is the president of the movement, Oleksii Chupryna the auditor and Ruslana Mazurenok the secretary. Congratulations !!!!
December - cooperation with the German foundation filia.die frauenstiftung begins.
Larysa Matrashak, a member of the board of directors of Be Like Nina, with the help of lawyer Vitaliy Dudin, has won a court case to recover more than UAH 150,000 in compensation from her employer for the delay in her redundancy pay. Last year, she was dismissed from Odessa Regional Psychiatric Hospital No. 2 due to her transfer to the Odessa Regional Medical Centre for Mental Health. The former employer failed to pay her holiday pay for her main job and part-time work.
May the victory of our militant force at the end of this year be the beginning of all future victories!
