Covid19, geriatric care and health workers

Glad, what I'm hearing from health care workers here is also that:

(a) There's inadequate equipment and this this is a major issue.   Some were wearing garbage bags over their scrubs b/c the gowns were not available.  

(b)  Shifts of 12 hours were much more challenging than usual; it was harder to breathe not only in their garbage bag uniforms but with masks and N-95s.   Some staffers were literally hot all day long.  

(c)  After the first wave, many first line staffers were furloughed, their employer paid health insurance was cancelled.   They had to file for unemployment, plus pay for health insurance for themselves and their families.   That compounded the stress.

I can understand why some unionized.    And I'm glad, if it helps them get better working conditions.   Reps of one major hospital chain in this area were moaning that they were losing money, had to make cutbacks, etc., but I never read anything about cutbacks or layoffs at the exec level.  Hopefully there were some, b/c the first line workers were and are  needed more than the execs, especially at that particular hospital, which has a bad reputation and history of malpractice, including one whistle blower lawsuit.

In the meantime, that hospital was benefiting from revenue through a commercial area it had developed outside the hospital.   Someday I'm going to do some digging and find out how much revenue was available  as well as how the development arm was related, and if any of the revenue went to hospital needs.

In California the nurses are unionized but it doesn’t do much good right now. We have a law that mandates a certain ratio of patients to nurses however Fuhrer Newsom has eliminated the ratio for the time being. Which is very very bad, it is putting patient lives at risk and it is driving nurses OUT of patient care. Local nurses protested yesterday because of this! He’s spending $80 million to educate the public on COVID but he is not doing anything to help the frontline hospital workers. All the field hospitals and overflow centers that were set up in the spring are gone and there doesn’t seem to be a plan to help out hospitals (every day we are told how bad CA is getting and how the hospitals are full) but the Fuhrer is spending $80 million on electronic billboards to educate us on COVID. The way the media talks about how dire the situation is, there probably won’t be a lot of people alive to even see the billboards. It’s really unbelievable what is happening here. Strip clubs are open, churches are closed. Outdoor dining is closed but malls are open. We were told to stay home for thanksgiving because seeing our families was just too risky!!! But retail was wide open on Black Friday and not a single elected official or leader discouraged people from going shopping on Black Friday. Everyone here wears a mask. It is poor leadership that is sinking our ship.

Here workers in one hospital system have unionized. They are overworked and exhausted and short staffed without necessary protections.

Alva, I think there's going to be another crisis, and it's in the departure of first line health care workers.

Heard on NPR this a.m. that ER/ICU nurses are quitting. They interviewed a few, 10 months on the line, they have had it. Overwhelmed each shift and too much death. This was my worst fear for the second wave.

Margaret, thank you for the article link. I always find it interesting to see how other Countries are dealing, or not dealing, with the covid-19. Hopefully the world can learn from each other :)