After 1 year of continuous crisis – where is the bonus for Salzburg’s nursing staff?


Salzburg’s health workers do great things. The state of emergency in health and care facilities has become the new normal after more than a year. What makes the situation even worse: There is no trace of understanding, support and appreciation – and that on several levels.

Everyone knows by now that the fight against a pandemic is difficult to cope with with a health system that has been completely saved. But what it means to experience first-hand the consequences of years of savings is something that health workers in particular know.

Continuous stress for nursing staff

Countless services in full protection gear, daily confrontation with death and at the same time always the risk of contracting the virus: These are the circumstances under which Salzburg’s carers work on the Covid wards every day. Anyone who thinks that everyone has been specially trained for Covid care is wrong. Health workers from a wide variety of disciplines are used to provide care – and are therefore withdrawn from the actual wards. What also burdens: reckless behavior in the population and indifferent shrug of the shoulders of politics.

Lack of staff and infrastructure

There is not only a lack of staff, but also in some cases infrastructure and clear guidelines. There are also only a few financial incentives – and if so, then only for those who work directly with Covid patients. The problem goes far beyond the infection stations. The crisis is also clearly noticeable in other areas – and the result is chronic understaffing. There are fewer staff available on the wards, but this does not change the number of patients. In addition, the 12-hour shifts with protective equipment and masks are not only physically demanding for the employees, but can also become a serious problem, especially with regard to the elderly.

It is above all the senior citizens’ homes that are struggling with the mask requirement. Residents who do not hear well or who have dementia are dependent on observing the facial expressions and gestures of the other person. But that’s impossible under the mask. Fear and aggressiveness are common reactions.

There is a need for action

The nurses have been mastering all of these challenges for over a year – even though support from all sides has been a long time coming. The pandemic at the latest makes it clear that there is a lot of need for action in the health sector – whether in terms of infrastructure or personnel. But there is also a lack of appreciative gestures on the part of politics. A bonus payment for all nursing staff, the “Corona Thousand”, would not be a solution, but a step in the right direction.

Bonus payment required

After the Corona year, it is clear: a lot has to change in the Salzburg health system. Above all, our nursing staff must be given more recognition by politicians. A bonus payment for everyone would at least be a start.