On the 23rd, citizens are looking up at Hyoplus Nursing Hospital in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. News 1
“Some of the nurses are in charge of everything from medication and treatment to the treatment of the patient’s urine and feces. I have a fever, and I am waiting for the corona test results. Please help us.”
A nursing hospital in Gyeonggi Province where a cohort (same group) was quarantined due to the spread of a novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19). Nurse A, who works here, complained of anxiety on a phone call with the Hankook Ilbo, saying, “I don’t know when I will be infected,” with a hoarse voice.
The situation inside the hospital he conveyed was close to Abi Gyu-hwan. The hospital has been quarantined for several days, with about 100 people including dozens of confirmed patients, negatively judged residents, and medical staff. Since there is no good place to separate medical staff and negative-determined residents from confirmed patients, medical staff are struggling. Mr. A complained, “There is no support or countermeasure.”
Abi Gyu-hwan is a nursing hospital with confirmed and non-confirmed patients
This is not the only nursing hospital that is helplessly affected by Corona 19. As Corona 19 hits national nursing hospitals, many hospitals are struggling with uncontrollable workload and labor shortages. According to the quarantine authorities and local governments on the 27th, at Hyoplus Nursing Hospital in Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, only 32 people died until this day, and the total number of confirmed cases was 153. In addition, there were about 100 cumulative confirmed cases each at Sunchang Nursing Hospital in Sunchang County, Jeonbuk, Canaan Nursing Hospital in Gimje City, and Misodeul Nursing Hospital in Guro-gu, Seoul.
In general, nursing hospitals often only provide simple treatment for elderly patients, and medical personnel and equipment are insufficient compared to general hospitals. In this situation, nursing hospitals that require cohort quarantine are faced with a situation where very few people have to use poor equipment to take care of dozens of Corona19 patients and the rest of the residents. For example, in a nursing hospital in Busan with 43 cumulative confirmed cases, one nurse is in charge of around 40 inmates (including voice). Due to the fact that the attending physician is diagnosed with Corona 19, there are many cases that they cannot even afford to give an appropriate prescription to the confirmed person.
I asked for manpower support, but there was no response
Nursing hospitals are requesting emergency manpower support from health authorities, but they are said to have not been able to provide satisfactory support. An official in a nursing hospital in Busan said, “I applied for the dispatch of medical staff to the health authorities a while ago, but the support staff did not come,” and said, “It seems that it is difficult to get to the provinces because human resources are dispatched to the metropolitan area.” An official at Hyo Plus Nursing Hospital also said, “Recently, a small number of people have been put in, but they are still requesting human resources.”
Given this situation, even medical staff with symptoms of Corona 19 are being mobilized to take care of patients. Nurse A is caring for patients who remain in the hospital despite symptoms of going up and down 38 degrees. He confessed, “Some of the nurses have been diagnosed, so they have been transferred to hospitals and facilities,” he said. “I don’t know when the remaining medical staff will become infected,” he said.
Nursing hospitals, where no confirmed cases have occurred, are anxious because they do not know when they will face similar situations. An official from a nursing hospital in Incheon said, “According to the government guidelines, visits are completely prohibited, and both medical staff and caregivers wear masks, but it is true that they are worried.” “If even one self-occurrence occurs, the outbreak will be one moment.” An official from a nursing hospital in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, also worried, “The only medical equipment in the nursing hospital is an oxygen injection machine, an inhaler (suction), and an x-ray, so there is no way to use it even if the symptoms worsen after diagnosis.
Yoon Hanseul reporter [email protected]
Park Ji-young reporter [email protected]
Jeongwon Lee reporter [email protected]
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