On Tuesday UW Nurses testified at the Dane County Dane County Healthcare and Public Health Workforce Needs Subcommittee. Frank Emspak brings you the story.
SCRIPT: Front line nurses and caregivers from area hospitals especially UW Hospitals and Clinics testified to the extreme challenges they faced in their efforts to provide quality care. They identified understaffing, turnover and lack of support – all exacerbated by covid.
Ashley Campbell told the committee what work was like for her and her colleagues.
TAPE [11 seconds]
Nurse Campbell described the moral and mental challenges of her work.
TAPE: [19 seconds]
Other nurses discussed how they felt that the situation was back to zero- from where they started before the pandemic meaning short staffing, inadequate training and support- but made worse because of fewer and fewer and fewer staff. These nurses said they need to know that there is a reason to keep hanging on.
Another nurse put it this way:
TAPE [1:23]
Nurses emphasized that the situation while exacerbated by covid is part of a continuing long standing emergency as regards the provision of health care especially staffing shortages.
The nurses who spoke strongly supported the committee and the committee’s willingness to hear directly from care givers and address efforts to deal with retention, recruitment and continuing training.
Next month the committee will focus on solutions and then report their findings to the full county board for appropriate action by the Board.
Reporting Courtesy of Frank Emspak
Image Courtesy of WORT News on Flickr
So amazing for this to b an article right now. I had an aweful experience at the emergency room in the last week or so. I used to LOVE the UW. I always told ppl. it was like everyone was family which made me trust everyonene there. I mean from ppl bringing ur food to ppl cleaning ur room. Everyone was family. I believe much of the ppl I saw in emergency were there for rediculous reason that could have waited for their doctor to see. So this really backs things up. Some nurses were rude, which I had never experienced before. But reading this I will b much more understanding next time. I have been going to UW for at least 10 yrs. And will continue to go there and I will b much more understanding next time!!! Thanks for printing this.
This is a very important issue, but I think a more appropriate name for this story is ‘healthcare’ workforce, not ‘public health’ workforce. The story deals with nurses and staff at hospitals, in clinical settings, that work for hospitals. This staff is more appropriately labeled healthcare than public health.
Hospital care is one of the backbones of Public Health. Necessary for hospitals to be properly staffed because burns, gun shot wounds, overdoses, infectious diseases all drive need for beds and beds = experienced nurses, aids, respiratory therapists, speech therapists (eating/swallowing/communicating), experienced doctors, and others.
Yes, hospital staffing is a Public Health issue.