Every new corona wave becomes a merciless endurance test for the nursing staff. The strong increases in Covid cases in the hospitals in November 2020 and spring 2021 are still in the bones of the helpers. Now there is again an increase in the number of patients in need of care – and with them overtime, short recovery times and great psychological stress for the employees.
In the canton of Thurgau, those responsible are now sounding the alarm. “We now advise a lot of cases of nurses who simply can no longer themselves and get out”, says Barbara Dätwyler, President of the Swiss Professional Association of Nursing Women and Nursing Specialists (SBK) of the St. Gallen-Thurgau-Appenzell section.Tele top». There are stations where up to 50 percent of the workforce would run away.
Appeal to the population: “Protect yourselves!”
Burnouts, anxiety and sleep disorders are the result of the massive workload in nursing, explains Datwyler. And: Because they come into close contact with corona patients, the disease is an additional risk for the carers. Many employees have already contracted the pathogen and are now exhausted to the point of incapacity for work, so that they can no longer work. Datwyler’s appeal is therefore: “Protect yourselves!”
The fact that the situation in Thurgau is so tense is also related to the vaccination rate. The canton of eastern Switzerland is one of the worst performers there. And practically only unvaccinated Covid patients end up in the intensive care units.
This is also confirmed by the Thurgau SVP government councilor Urs Martin. But he hopes to get better. The canton of Thurgau tends to be a vaccine-critical canton. “But we are noticing that the longer the more people want to be vaccinated.” With the possibility of spontaneous vaccinations, this tendency is now to be intensified after the holiday season. (cat)