Several desperate nurses and midwives came today to the office of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to hand him a letter describing the dramatic situation of their professional group. – We are dying of exhaustion – says Krystyna Ptok, president of the National Trade Union of Nurses and Midwives.
- – Since COVID-19 appeared in Poland, 34 nurses have already died. We learn about the death of one of our friends almost every day – the nurses complain
- – We work 400 hours a month. And this is becoming dangerous not only for us, but also for patients. We die of exhaustion, not only in “covid” wards
- – So we are entering a collective dispute, and its last stage will be a strike – says Krystyna Ptok, president of OZZPiP
- The head of the nurses’ union also noted that there are currently too few of them to be involved in the National Immunization Program
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Representatives of the Polish Association of Nurses and Midwives, the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives, the Polish Society of Nurses and the Polish Society of Midwives came to Warsaw in front of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. All this to describe the tragic situation of their professional group in their opinion.
– The pandemic has exposed all the weaknesses of the Polish health care system, with the lack of medical staff at the forefront – explains Krystyna Ptok, president of OZZPiP.
He emphasizes that the government has not held any talks with nurses since 2018, when the head of the Polish government signed the document “Strategy for the development of nursing and obstetrics”.
– The working conditions of nurses and midwives were to improve, while the epidemic came and everything that was successfully rebuilt is systematically destroyed. This brings us closer to the decision to strike.
- Covid patients cuddle up to the nurses. “They are dying in our hands”
They die of exhaustion
The nurse and head of the trade union points out that every Pole has the right to professional nursing care.
– Unfortunately, the state makes it impossible. For a simple reason: it does not provide us with decent working conditions. Since COVID-19 appeared in Poland, infected nurses have been dying, not only in covid wards, but in first-level hospitals. Simply exhausted, because they work too hard in several places – emphasizes Ptok.
He gives dramatic numbers: 5300 nurses contracted coronavirus over the two November weeks, 58 of them were hospitalized last week, and 14 were in serious condition. Died on 12.
“It’s like one nurse a day dies.” Our mental and physical endurance is ending – she added.
Condolences for the families of deceased nurses appear on the website of the Supreme Chamber of Nurses and Midwives almost every day in recent days.
- Another Polish nurse died of COVID-19. Seven since the beginning of November
There are no full-time jobs for white staff
The head of OZZPiP emphasizes that there are not enough nurses, especially when the rulers – in line with the recently announced National Vaccination Program – have announced the creation of numerous vaccination points.
– It means creating additional jobs. And there are fewer and fewer of us, not more, he notices. – This year, 5 people were deprived of the right to practice, and only 14 of them were able to work in hospitals and other public health institutions. Why? Because the directors are saving, so they block jobs. Hospitals are indebted to around PLN XNUMX billion, and their bosses have to choose between employing a nurse and paying off the debt with immediate enforceability status. They choose the latter – he adds.
- 4 thousand Polish nurses do not work in their profession. Why is no one hiring them?
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– We’re exhausted. It happens that we work 400 hours a month. And this is becoming dangerous not only for us, but also for patients. We really are on the edge of a precipice, on the brink of endurance, both physically and mentally. So we are entering a collective labor dispute, and its final stage will be a strike. The government notices us when we have to do something. It is a pity that only at such moments – adds the chairwoman Ptok.
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