On the 12th, in front of Sarangchae in Cheongwadae, Jongno-gu, Seoul, at a press conference hosted by the National Health and Medical Industry Workers’ Union, a press conference called for the exhaustion of manpower at a hospital dedicated to COVID-19 and a call for evacuation and preparation of countermeasures, medical staff wearing quarantine uniforms are crying after reading the press conference. News 1
Nurses in a hospital dedicated to a novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) in the metropolitan area have been in charge of ‘3 roles’ even for guardians and caregivers for a while. As patients in nursing hospitals were transferred to this hospital. I even had to clear the patient’s size and feces. Fortunately, it has been possible to focus more on the treatment of patients with Corona 19 by finding more than 20 caregivers with difficulty.
Protective clothing that cannot be removed
Another dedicated hospital nurse, A, also complains of overwork. As the severity of the patients increased, working hours naturally increased. Take care of patients with ventilators in general wards. This is due to the lack of hospital beds for the treatment of critical patients nationwide. A nurse said, “The number of patients who have to feed themselves to meals has increased.”
As Corona 19 lasts for nearly a year, complaints from nurses in the field, saying, “It’s a limit now,” are popping up everywhere. The number of patients in the tertiary epidemic has increased remarkably, but the number of regular medical personnel remains at the level. It is said that the fatigue has already accumulated as it is. Meanwhile, there is a conflict with the dispatched nurse.
On the 12th, a press conference is held in front of Sarangchae in Cheongwadae, Jongno-gu, Seoul, hosted by the National Health and Medical Industry Labor Union, calling for the exhaustion and departure of manpower in the dedicated hospital for Corona 19 and to prepare measures. At the conference, attendees urged the expansion of the number of hospitals dedicated to Corona 19 and the preparation of support and compensation measures reflecting the situation at the site. News 1
“Every day the nursing field collapses”
Ahn Se-young, a nurse at Seoul Boramae Hospital, recently released a letter to Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun through a media outlet. He said that’K-quarantine’, which is enduring at the expense of medical staff, is not sustainable. Nurse Ahn said, “’The success story of K quarantine’ collapses in the nursing field every day. We are failing every day,” he wrote. “Now our hard work is hard to continue.”
At a press conference on the 12th, the National Health and Medical Industry Workers’ Union insisted, “Nurses have survived a year with a sense of duty alone.”
The reality of overwork leads to avoidance of working in the COVID-19 intensive care unit. Osan Korean Hospital launched a hospital to solve the problem of shortage of beds. It is currently undergoing internal repairs as a dedicated hospital for the Corona 19 base. It plans to operate 97 beds in total, including 19 critically ill patients and 8 semi-critical patients. However, they are already struggling to find medical personnel to take care of critically ill patients. A Korean hospital official said, “(In the case of the intensive care unit), there are few applicants because the work is so difficult.”
The government is sending nurses to recruit scarce manpower. However, there was also a strange conflict between the existing nurse and the dispatched nurse. Revenge nurses said, “I understand the noble spirit of sacrifice to be dispatched,” but “there are many people whose careers are shorter than 5 years or have been cut off for several years. Rather, they are taking care of the dispatched nurse.”
Temporary screening clinic in Seoul Station Plaza. News 1
Nurse says, “If the corona is over, I will stop”
In addition, the controversy over the allowance was added. In some cases, dispatched nurses pay more than incumbent nurses working at public medical centers. The allowance for dispatched personnel is usually 5 to 6 million won. In some cases, they receive 9 million won a month. It is 2 to 3 times more different depending on the situation than the nurse who has kept the field. The explanation of the Korea Nurses Association is that there are some nurses who quit the hospital they attended and are dispatching at all.
An official from a hospital in the metropolitan area who requested anonymity said, “If I interview the staff, they say,’Corona 19 will stop when it is over.’” “I honestly know how much nurses dispatched are received. I think (dispatched nurses) get more than they work.”
Need for support plan for on-site nurses
The support plan for on-site nurses includes a intensive care bed allowance and night care management fee that is supported by 50,000 won per day. Nursing management fees are not allowances. It is paid at a fee to finance the health insurance. Therefore, each hospital is divided into ‘1 in n’. Each nurse will receive a little over 10,000 won per day. This is the amount of support that cannot be felt. The health care union insists that the’tentatively named Corona Life Safety Benefit’, which is a combination of the critically ill bed allowance and nursing management fee, should be newly established and supported.
Man-ho Han, a policy expert of the Nursing Association, said, “In the case of public hospitals (which are inferior to private hospitals), the difference from dispatched nurses is remarkable. I said.
Reporters Minwook Kim and Taeyoon Lee [email protected]