The nurses of the Strasbourg university hospitals who report an unprecedented shortage of personnel, manifested on 22 November, have been blocked. While for two years, 50 % of nurses have left, those who remain have to carry out all the activity, without any recruitment being made.
It’s a warning cry. The second in a short time. On Tuesday 22 November, the specialized nurses of the University Hospitals of Strasbourg (HUS) descended under the windows of their management at the call of the Force Ouvrière union. Dressed in their blue blouses and charlottes, their work clothes in operating rooms, they also demonstrated in front of the Bas-Rhin prefecture, to denounce an unprecedented shortage of personnel, which endangers patients as well as operators sanitary. This is the second act of this protest movement born within the University Hospital Institute (IHU), after an initial mobilization last November 8th.
Two years ago, the hospital had 30 operating room nurses (also called Ibodes). Today there are only 14, or 50 % of the initial workforce, underlines Christian Prud’homme, general secretary of the FO des HUS union. The covid has put a stop to the use of operating rooms: only 3 or 4 of the 55 rooms were functional. In this context, the Ibodes have been distributed in other services. But when the situation returned to normal, many left and there was no recruitment.
Departures not replaced
These departures have different causes: two caregivers have retired, others have been reclassified or left for training. Five professionals have also preferred to enter the private sector, choosing to practice in clinics
, says the activist. However, HUS did not anticipate these departures to adjust its recruitment.
Force Ouvrière points out that the problem of recruitment is not new and is part of a framework far beyond that of Strasbourg. The union had therefore previously pointed out that hiring was far, far away, from offsetting outgoings. The question of staffing had in fact been extensively discussed at the national conference For another hospital, another health system
organized on 1is last February by the FO-SPS federation at the headquarters of the federation in Paris. FO therefore requests a Marshall Plan for the public hospital. In particular, the creation of 200,000 jobs in hospitals and nursing homes.
Unsustainable work rhythms
Because, in Strasbourg as elsewhere, the numerous departures of staff are, first of all, a reaction to the deterioration of working conditions that these professionals have been undergoing for several years. When I started my nursing career, much like Ibode, the profession attracted professionals, who were also mums because blocks closed around 3pm. The working hours, for this demanding job, were compatible with private life. But today we work till 5pm sometimes and working hours get longer due to staff shortage,
Within the hospitals, and in the context of this situation of staff shortage, critical testimonies on the pace of work abound. Some nurses mention 15 days on the job, sometimes 20, with no days off. Another 60 hours worked in just eight days. Examples abound. This is how a nurse describes a working day, from 17:00 to 4:00, to return the next day, at noon… I have two children, but I don’t see them anymore
he insists. One of the Ibodi is at a standstill, particularly due to exhaustion of this rhythm,
The question of the use of the interim
Pros also talk about the lack of exposure they have to their program. This is what they ask management to do: protect their privacy,
As can be seen, some recent graduates choose temporary agency work, allowing them to express their request not to work on weekends or at night.
One of the HUS Ibodes has left to work as a temporary worker. When HUS hires a temporary worker to help nurses ? It’s hard to hold back this person when he notices the extended hours Christian Prud’homme still observes. Furthermore, temporary work is problematic within the hospital as it involves competition with other public service healthcare workers.
And to recall the words of Frédéric Valletoux, president of the Hospitaller Federation: Interim is a cancer plaguing the hospital
.
A real public health and safety issue
Even at 50 % of the workforce, the Ibodes of Strasbourg have no choice but to do their job, between emergencies and operations. The hypothesis has been put forward of descheduling operations in one of the three operating theatres, but which would transfer them only to the other theatres. This staff shortage is a real public health and safety issue. Also for this reason the demonstration of November 22 reached as far as the prefecture,
The trade unionist also cites the mental burden of operating room nurses, which they have patients’ lives in their hands
. These, the surgeon’s assistants, must know the progress of the operations, anticipate the instruments to be used and any complications. This heavy liability becomes much more difficult to guarantee when working more than 10 consecutive hours.
The fear is obviously also that a medical error will be made: If this is the case, we will report the caregivers when it is through the attitude of the institution that the risk of errors can intervene…
