Two professional associations, the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI) and the German Society for Specialist Nursing and Functional Services (DFG), are calling on policymakers to take far-reaching measures to ensure that an exit of specialist nurses in intensive care medicine does not lead to the collapse of the system.
Specialist nurses in intensive care medicine in particular are currently very challenged and demoralized by bureaucracy. For this reason, the professional associations are calling for appropriate remuneration depending on qualifications, sufficient personnel with a „binding personnel assessment instrument“, and psychosocial support in the extreme situation caused above all by the pandemic. Physicians and nurses would have to pull together and create a sensible division of labor with the transfer of competencies to those to be nursed, even if physicians often resist this.
Gernot Marx as DIVI president and other experts such as Andreas Westerfellhaus, the federal government’s authorized representative for nursing care, warn of such scenarios in intensive care, but also in nursing care for the elderly and the sick if something decisive does not change as quickly as possible. Westerfellhaus is also worried about a mass exodus of nursing staff in care for the elderly and the sick because many are on the verge of exhaustion, have a feeling of powerlessness, and are worn down by everyday working life. In addition, many care workers have lost confidence in politics and are looking for suitable ways to leave the profession.
Because of the impending shortage of personnel, the nursing representative is calling for a staffing ratio that is based on actual nursing requirements, as well as plannable working hours, but also a consideration of the actual performance of nursing staff with the avoidance of rushing. Westerfellhaus also points out that pay has to improve because a high starting salary in the nursing profession makes the profession more attractive. The German Nursing Council in the form of its head, Franz Wagner, for example, calls for starting salaries of 4,000 euros for a nursing specialist. Westerfellhaus does not give any figures but is also in favor of significant wage increases. In addition, certain occupational groups should be granted more competencies and personal responsibility, because well-trained registered nurses are often only used as assistants to doctors, although the level of training allows for much more.
Registered nurses could relieve physicians by, for example, taking care of wounds, placing infusions, or even coordinating ventilator weaning for patients with mechanical respiratory support.
Source: www.aerzteblatt.de