'Exhausted' healthcare staff will quit after pandemic, warns Cork nurse
The pandemic has not taken away Michelle Kingston’s love for nursing, but it has changed her life.
Ms Kingston, an Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) representative for emergency department nurses at Cork University Hospital (CUH) said staff shortages caused by Covid-19 have created real pressures.
The problem became acute when the third wave of infections hit, and about 180 nurses were on Covid-leave at CUH.
“It has been hectic, the third surge really hit us. We were short-staffed, it was very hard, it’s draining.
"But everyone stood up together, we did overtime and covered shifts. To be honest, I was really proud to be working there,” she said.
Ms Kingston said these shortages are echoed in other hospitals. The pressures have been so bad, she said even young nurses are thinking about changing career.
"It’s so busy, and our money for what we do is terrible, there's no two ways about that,” she said.
She praised CUH for providing nurses with FFP2 masks unlike many other hospitals, but said the emotional pressures remain.
“It is hard when someone is dying, they are alone or with one person in PPE. That is heart-breaking, that sticks to you,” she said.
She said INMO concerns around childcare expressed to the Oireachtas health committee are well-founded.
Her own son is an adult, but she babysits a young child for a colleague enabling that nurse to work night-shifts.
“A lot of my colleagues have small children. One woman I was on with at the weekend has three young ones. She said she has no time alone.
Many are now “exhausted”, and are reluctant to ask family for help although in some cases this had to be done, she said.
Other form a social bubble with a colleague, sharing hours and childcare.
Ms Kingston had just returned to work when infections rose having been on sick leave following an operation in October. Staying away never crossed her mind.
“I worked all over Christmas. We usually see family in Dunmanway but I couldn’t go anyway.
"I’m vaccinated but I could still be a carrier,” she said.
She misses simple things, such as meeting family, or going for lunch, having not been out socially for a year.
Some of Ms Kingston's neighbours even avoid her when they see her on the street, worried she have brought 'the Covid' home from work.
She said: "Everyone around here knows I work in A&E. When I walk past some people, they would avoid you. It's obvious.
"They would step out on the road to avoid me. I find it funny, I'm probably the safest person around here."
These restrictions make it tough when Covid-19 patients are admitted through the Emergency Department from a house party gone wrong.
She has treated party-goers who came to the hospital because of a physical injury, but were then discovered to have the virus.
“It is very frustrating. You can’t help but be angry with them in your head. You meet people who don’t believe in Covid or understand how it is transmitted,” she said.
She has also treated Covid-patients who travelled from Britain for a funeral.
