“The pandemic discovered how poor we are in the healthcare system”

In May, we will have a nurses’ strike – announces Krystyna Ptok, head of the union of nurses and midwives in an interview with Radio Zet.

1. In Poland, in a covid hospital with 100 beds, we have 0,5 nurses, and in Europe we will have 1 – says Krystyna Ptok in Radio Zet
2. Due to staff shortages and system overload, medics are increasingly wondering whether the patient’s death could have been avoided
3. Nurses don’t want to go on strike in a pandemic. “It would be grossly unfair to patients,” explains Ptok
4. You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page

General strike of nurses in May – announces Krystyna Ptok

Krystyna Ptok, head of the union of nurses and midwives, announced in an interview with Radio Zet that in May we will face a two-hour general strike at the Ministry of Health.

– We want to improve working conditions here and now! We do not have time to wait for the prospect until 2027, because then the average age of a nurse will be 58 years. Such a person is to stand by the sick bed – said Krystyna Ptok.

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The nurse admitted that she could not imagine a situation to leave patients’ beds during the pandemic. “It would be grossly out of order with the patients,” she admitted.

Krystyna Ptok draws attention to the disproportion in earnings between nurses in Poland and in EU countries. In the EU countries it is an average of 3 thousand. euro, while in Poland the salary varies between 1 thousand. 300 and 1 thous. 500. Staff shortages are also a problem.

– In Poland, in the covid hospital with 100 beds, we have 0,5 nurses, and in Europe we will have 1. We work two or three jobs. Everyone is already tired of this situation, irritable, furious. They want to help all patients, but it turns out that it cannot be done – sums up Ptok.

A nurse about the health care system in Poland. “We are poor”

Krystyna Ptok also commented on the situation in the Polish health service. “The pandemic has discovered how poor we are in the health care system,” she concluded. She added that when a patient dies, a dilemma arises as to whether it was due to a staff shortage. “I don’t know now if he died because of our neglect, because we were with another patient,” admitted Ptok.

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The nurse had already talked about the difficult situation in the health service. In an interview with Medonet, she drew attention to overload and chronic stress.

– Already in the fall we alarmed that the system is inefficient, that we are almost on our knees – said Krystyna Ptok. – We emphasize all the time that nurses work in several places, which gives about 300 hours worked per month. Let me remind you that a standard working month is about 160 hours. When I look at my friends, I can see that they are exhausted and overwhelmed by the situation. The chronic stress they are currently under will almost certainly affect their health in the long run. They live in great tension, they move from one hospital to another and the next, they work in temporary hospitals, at vaccination points … This is what the rulers of the country expect in the current situation, but the question arises, how many tasks can one person carry out?

The nurse also admitted that staff shortages translate into the patients’ health.

– The current situation with staff shortages worsens the situation of patients – Krystyna Ptok admitted. – I can say with full responsibility that the low staffing of nurses, or rather understated in relation to the needs of patients, may cause a situation of threat to their health. The consequences of this will be borne by the nurse, but in fact the system is to blame, which allows for the fact that, for example, 30 patients are not treated by two or three people, but by one.

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