OVERBURDENED AND BURNT-OUT

Aug 19, 2017 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Nurses very seldom complain about their poor working conditions, they do their work diligently, which means the public does not know that many nurses in the public hospitals are overwhelmed and are suffering silently from fatigue due to the fact that they watch many patients die from simple diseases that should not have resulted in death in this modern era.
Others are under severe stress, and as the health system buckles under pressure, they face the difficult task to serve those in need of care. Some have simply resigned themselves to the fact that there is nothing they could do to make changes and improve the situation.
Many of our nurses in the public hospitals across the county are trying to do their best with very little resources to ensure accessibility to health services to those in need. Some have resorted to stringent measures in order to cope with the daily increase in trauma cases which range from stabbing injuries to gunshot wounds and traffic fatalities.
In some cases, elective surgeries have to be postponed due to shortages of staff and resources. As a result, some patients have to be referred to private hospitals, but only if they can afford the cost. Others, especially the poor, are painfully rejected by the private hospitals because of the lack of money.
The current situation has eroded much of the gains made in improving the public health care system and appears to be a barrier to Guyana achieving universal access to health care. Not only is the increase in trauma cases affecting the public hospitals across the country, but it also exacerbates the already struggling condition in a resource-constrained health care system.
All the medical departments and all categories of staff are being affected and, as such, there is urgent need to address the underlying causes for the increase in trauma cases being seen at the public health facilities.
Some nurses have described the current state in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Unit in which they work as terrible. Others have admitted to heavier workloads in recent months with its attendant effect of working for extended hours. Some have pointed out that they are traumatized as they witness unnecessary deaths.
Many have expressed their frustrations when there are no available beds in the A&E to stabilize trauma patients. The lack of bed spaces in the A&E is sometimes due to the large number of patients retained in the area until beds are made available on the wards. The consequence has been that nurses have become tired, overburdened and burnt-out as they extend themselves to provide coverage due to the perennial problem of shortage of staff.
Additionally, nurses have expressed concern about their safety when caring for patients from their communities who show up with gunshot wounds. Many are known in their communities and are fearful of being caught in the cross hairs of reprisal killings. Also, priority is always given to trauma cases which place other forms of patient care on hold, thus causing those patients and their relatives to become upset and rowdy, which sometimes poses a threat to nurses. This is the case especially for those working in A&E departments. Such fear has compounded an already stressful work environment.
The concerns raised above by nurses in the public hospitals show that there is a dire need for counselling, especially for those working with and caring for trauma patients. Indeed, providing counselling for these nurses should be paramount. The maintenance of the health care system and the delivery of quality health care demand it. However, commendation to the nurses who continue to provide high-quality work and their best under difficult circumstances.

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