“I had people in my nursing home who died during the lockdown. Then you have to tell the family that only one of the four children can go in. Then you break,” says nurse Agatha.
“After that, the personal stuff had to be packed by the technical service. The family got it in a box on a cart, outside. Like ‘here you have it’.”
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In the nursing home where Agatha works, there have been no cases of corona, but the virus has been felt for months. The mainly demented elderly people had to be protected, of course, but that also meant no family visits, no activities with volunteers and no more eating together.
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“A demented resident then gets a phone to his ear and doesn’t understand it. Why can’t I speak to him in person? Explain that, I can’t. That was heartbreaking.” Agatha saw several patients deteriorate mentally during this period.
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The nursing home has been fully open again for two weeks and that really felt like a liberation, says Agatha. She became emotional when she saw her patients’ children come back in. She and her colleagues are therefore not exactly waiting for a second wave of corona infections.
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Staff loss
“You now know what to expect, but the idea is very heavy. You see and feel the sadness, I think that is very bad.”
The vast majority who participated in the survey (88 percent) expect a rapid second wave to cause staff cuts, and 1 in 5 fear they will drop out themselves. Only 43 percent think they are ready for a second corona wave again this summer. In the event of a second wave in the autumn, aid workers already see it rosier: 70 percent think they are ready for it again.
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Survey results
The research
- Total number of respondents: 752
- 33 percent work in the hospital
- 67 percent work in a nursing home
Complaints from working during the corona crisis:
- 53 percent are more irritable / irritable
- 45 percent suffer from sleepless nights
- 60 percent suffer from stress
- 81 percent suffer from fatigue
- 41 percent say they are really exhausted
Seek help or report sick
- 75 percent did not seek help for the complaints
- 89 percent did not report sick for work
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No longer afraid of the virus
It is clear that the first wave of corona infections has hacked into it. Many health care workers report that they have experienced complaints such as stress, fatigue and sleepless nights. That was no different for Agatha. She was also afraid of getting sick, but that is now gone.
“I saw images from China of people dropping to death on the street, which made them anxious. Now I think ‘come on, we all have a good immune system’.” Still, not all her colleagues feel that way. “Some are still scared and, for example, always do their shopping with gloves. They also say that they are sure that there will be a second wave.”
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