COVID-19
Abuse of overwhelmed health staff misdirected this NYE
As New South Wales prepares to welcome in the New Year, nurses and midwives have been copping increased levels of abuse inside hospitals as they struggle to deliver care with massive staffing shortages.
A lack of available nurses at one major Sydney hospital has prompted calls for patients to be discharged as soon as possible, and for doctors to be on standby to replace or support nurses.
At another major metropolitan hospital, three registered nurses were caring for up to 18 critically unwell coronary patients. Meanwhile, just three midwives were on hand to support 14 labouring women. Midwives were also being subjected to abuse and complaints over a lack of staff available to perform inductions on the maternity ward.
Brett Holmes, General Secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA), said abuse and aggression towards health workers must stop immediately and urged the NSW government intervene.
“Our members are faced with an impossible task of trying to care for rising COVID-19 hospitalisations, as well as other emergency presentations, and not enough staff to provide safe care,” said Mr Holmes.
“The government keeps insisting our health system is strong enough to cope, when that is simply not the reality on the ground. Our members insist it is becoming incredibly unsafe.
“We’re aware nurses, midwives and other health staff are overwhelmed at multiple hospitals already, and they’re not looking forward to what the New Year’s Eve festivities could bring through the doors.
“Patients and family members are presenting to hospital expecting a robust, high-functioning health system and become extremely agitated when they experience the widespread staffing crisis firsthand.
“Our members want the NSW Premier and Health Minister to admit the current situation in our hospitals is dire and call on the public not to abuse health staff as the system struggles under increased demand.
“These circumstances are devastating enough for our nursing and midwifery workforce, which is already grappling with pandemic fatigue and little hope of any reprieve in sight.”
The NSWNMA has once again urged the NSW government to introduce a shift-by-shift COVID-19 allowance to provide nurses and midwives an incentive, given the extraordinary conditions they are experiencing.
“Currently, there are no incentives for staff to keep fronting up, day after day, and being expected to cover these massive staffing shortfalls,” Mr Holmes added.
“We called on the Health Minister to introduce a COVID-19 allowance for nurses and midwives, in line with the Victoria government’s allowance, back in October and received no response.
“Surely, the Health Minister and Premier can acknowledge they do need to give immediate, meaningful recognition to the ongoing sacrifices nurses and midwives are making and what is happening to our health system because of their own government’s decisions.
“Our members are going above and beyond, shift after shift. Despite everything that is being thrown their way. Enough is enough. The government cannot continue piling more upon nurses and midwives and ignore the conditions they are dealing with.”
I work in a covid swabbing clinic and have become increasingly despondent from the governmental support, to do the right thing. They advise the public on what they see, but not what is available. As with the vaccines that were verbally rolled out by ministers, the vaccines were physically rolled out months later, now the Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) which were verbally rolled out by ministers are 75% short of availability and considered inconsistent in their use as verbally rolled out by ministers in their drive to discourage RAT use and encourage Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing, the gold standard. Now they advise how the general public can best use the RAT which is mostly unavailable and request the public to have confidence in their use and deliver this message with conviction. I fear the way we as health proffessionals are having to convince the general population by RAT testing and management while not totally inappropriate, lacks fundamental support for the populations. If positive, isolate and take care of yourselves with water, nurtitious food, support buddy who can contact you daily and monitoring? How many do I believe have the ability to monitor with confidence? Not through lack of wanting to but not knowing what to monitor and yet encouraged they are doing the right thing, by staying home to monitor themselves until unwell; by ministers. While self monitoring is more than likely the best goal in how to live with COVID- 19; it is the way we deliver the care to persons and dropping solutions, such as the RAT with inability to access the RAT is disrespectful to the general polpulation and the health care workers, all of us, nurses, docrors and GP’s of whom ministers regularly thank for fronting public frustration due to these short commings to deal as best they can, yet continue to promise solutions not available and request ‘front line health care workers’ fill the void with nothing to fend ourselves with but our respected nursing intent which we have honoured, believed in and delivered. I feel at the end of COVID-19 any honour, respect or trust any health proffessionals held could be eroded in the mix of being unable to provide the care and support we were being sold, as able to deliver.
Ministers say how health care workers are being abused and this should cease, which it should but that abuse stems from failure to deliver the solutions being promised in the media and conflicting recommendations of change. An increasing lacking credibilty, increasing fear and anxiety and nowhere else to turn but on those at the front. I write this because I believe we were meant to advocate for our patients. I love my job, I love helping people in need, but this situation is ongoing in its spiral of healthcare workers who are being pressurized to propose options such as the RAT and self care models in the current time space; where the population is not forced to leave our swabbing lines but encouraged with adivce on how to have faith in the RAT, care for themselves, and isolate if positive following the published advice. We are to inform patients they do not need to stand in cues for PCR’s but direct them to RAT use, when I know the RAT is not readily availble. The vulnerable will become obediant, it is concerning and negligent. I believe we do have to live with COVID-19 and its mutations but I will regret not doing the right thing by my paitents as well and consider myself fortunate I have finances and knowledge to protect myself and my family. It is those I spend 5 minutes with in swabbing, and moving on, I worry for. My best time is used to test and many as I can, with that at least they can know if they have COVID-19 and hopefully be successful in securing help.
I refer to spiralling as below; These are the frustrations we dealt with this Christmas and I apologised.
1)Increased demand on testing facilities due to Omnicron and spread with decreased testing sites
2)Increased needs for testing to appointments/sites during Omnicron with decreased testing sites
3)Implementing fine threats to travellers as mandated, forcing increased demand on testing with decreased testing sites
4)Unavoidable increase on testing sites to visit or travel due to the essence of Christmas being family gatherings with decreased testing sites
5)Advertising RAT as a a alternative but not providing RAT
6)use of RAT but not recognised for payments when isolating – PCR testing only recognised