Tough summer for healthcare workers: “Severe”

Short on staff and gaps to be filled means a lot of overtime.

Nursing staff at several of the country’s larger hospitals have to work hard to get the business together this summer, according to the union.

– I see a high risk of exhaustion, says specialist nurse Ann-Marie Karmborg.

Summer is often a stressful time for healthcare and this year is no exception.

– You are short on staff and there are a lot of patients. You have a fixed minimum staffing and you often fall below it, says Emma Jonsson, chairperson of the Vårdförbundet Stockholm branch.

The understaffing is not only about not having enough staff, but also about the lack of people on site with the right skills, she says. It may involve replacing a nurse with an assistant nurse.

– You replace the competence and think that it must be good enough – it is not. It is very serious indeed.

Must cover up

Ola Palo, chief protection officer at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, also testifies to a demanding summer.

– It is a rather tight working environment for our employees and they need to cover a lot for those who are on holiday, he says.

The overtime blockade that was introduced last spring is now a thing of the past. The business is built very much on staff overtime.

– That is not what the Vårdförbundet advocates. We think there should be a business that works when we are on holiday so we don’t have to feel guilty.

Returning to the night

The same picture is shared by Kenneth Byström, chairman of the Vårdförbundet Västernorrland branch. He describes that work shifts are often extended. After working during the day, you can stay in the evening, or you can go home and then come back and work at night.

The region was alerted during the spring that they were facing a tough summer in terms of staffing.

– Our concern was that it would be very strained, and it has been so far. You often can’t stand any privacy when you get home, you go to bed so you can go back to work.

Ann-Marie Karmborg is a safety representative at Skåne University Hospital and works as a specialist nurse in psychiatry. According to her, the crisis situation is the new normal.

– You can work 19 hours straight if someone calls in sick. The nursing team is hard pressed. I see a high risk of burnout with all this overtime and all our flexibility, she says.

She believes that the stoppage of rental nurses in January hit an already fragile organization hard.

– I would like to see some type of accident investigation into who is responsible for this collapse.

FACTS The custody conflict in the spring

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