There is an ongoing concern in staffing level since the spread of COVID in the country. As we know a good proportion of health care staff has been temporarily wiped out due to various reasons including contracting the COVID virus, forced to self-isolate due to close contact, lack of child care facilities and so on. The largest trade union for nurses and midwives in Ireland, INMO has already warned the freefall in staffing level in the country. In a recent post on their facebook page INMO clearly stated, Throughout the pandemic, one in 20 cases of coronavirus has been a nurse or midwife and are currently more than 1,000 Covid – 19 patients in Irish hospitals for the first time, as the health service comes under increasing pressure. INMO also made it clear that the nurses and midwives are highly skilled and totally dedicated, but are also utterly exhausted and need immediate supports.
The applauses and the heroic praises had led the nurses positively for a short while through this crucial stage but its high time that the Govt have to react to this situation sensibly. Many campaigns and support systems came forward to show support and care for the frontline workers but most of it was not appreciated by the authorities. The disruption of staffing level is not only a concern of the public health services but also severely impacted the private nursing home services. The openings for staff in public sectors inversely affected the private sectors due to the flow from private to public and many nursing homes in the country with the outbreak are struggling to provide quality care and have also reached to an extent that the close contacts are forced to work instead of self-isolating putting themselves and others at risk.
A this stage the frontline workers are in a state of mind that seem too much to cope with but still beholding the government for a ray of hope.
Recent Comments