Michael Steidl: I’m afraid that there will not be a fourth wave, but that there will be a tsunami that will reach us. I’ve been working at the limit for a year and a half now and I’m at 100 percent plus, which I have to give – and not just me, but my colleagues too – so that the population is reasonably well taken care of. It just has to be clear when I have a heart attack or a serious traffic accident that the clinic naturally wants to care for these patients, but that this often pushes them to their limits.
Michael Steidl works as the nursing manager of the emergency room in a hospital in Rosenheim. About a year ago, Stern spoke to the 45-year-old, who has also written a book about the challenges of the nursing profession. The situation has changed somewhat since last winter: The coronavirus is still with us. But around 67 percent of all Germans are now fully vaccinated. And yet: the number of infections is higher than ever before. We want to know from Mr. Steidl how he is doing, what is the current situation in his hospital and what he expects from the new federal government.
Katharina Frick: Mr. Steidl, thank you very much for taking the time for the interview. A year ago you said in an interview with Stern that you were Corona tired. How are you today?
Michael Steidl: Yes, it is already the case that Corona fatigue has turned into weariness, I have to honestly say. I now find it very, very exhausting to have to go through this topic again and again, both privately and at work.
Katharina Frick: We are currently reading again about overcrowded intensive care units and a lack of intensive care beds. What is the situation like in your hospital and what is the hospitalization rate in your region?
Michael Steidl: Yes, we are overflowing. In our region, of course, the corona number and the incidence are quite high. And it continues to rise. And it is very clear that the patients who have become infected with Corona and do not have a good course then come to our emergency room and then of course have to be looked after in the house. And there we are with 80 patients in the house who we have to take care of. And that’s quite a lot.
What bothers me in the discussion, of course, is the intensive care unit, I call it the boss for the patient, because if he ends up there and he is definitely bad, he has to be treated there. Then, even if the nursing staff insists on intensive care units, it is of course critical for the patient if there are not enough sufficient staff in the intensive care units to care for these patients. But it doesn’t just start in intensive care units, the patient is initially admitted to the emergency room and cared for there. And if there is no space in the intensive care unit, with patients who are not doing well, then it will first be treated further down, until one can find somewhere the possibility to accommodate and care for the patient.
And I miss it a bit in the discussion because it just means the intensive care units are overloaded. It is not only the intensive care units that are overloaded, but also the emergency rooms that are virtually the gateway for these patients. And the normal wards, which of course also feel the burden of the patients, in that they have been converted into Covid wards and the other wards in the house have to do the work for the specialist department. But also in a defined framework that one does not wish for.
It just has to be clear when I have a heart attack or a serious traffic accident that the clinic naturally wants to care for these patients, but that this often pushes them to their limits. In my opinion, it’s no longer fun to work like this. I’ve been working at the limit for a year and a half now and I’m at 100 percent plus, which I have to give. And not just me, but my colleagues. Also so that the population is reasonably well taken care of.
Katharina Frick: Which groups of people come to your hospital mainly with corona infections?
Michael Steidl: Of course, mostly unvaccinated people, you have to put it that way.
Katharina Frick: Do you still understand these people?
Michael Steidl: In terms of care for the patient, it doesn’t matter to me whether he is vaccinated or unvaccinated, because he still needs to be cared for. But one could have saved himself, the patient could also save himself having to end up in the clinic. If he had been vaccinated, he would in all likelihood have contracted Corona somehow, but would have had a milder course that does not go along with a stay in the clinic.
It is clear that for us in the homes it means that we have more work, but with patients that we could have saved ourselves if they had been.
There are of course a wide variety of reasons why someone is unsuitable. Everyone has to decide for themselves. And it’s also good that you can decide for yourself. But when it becomes too outrageous, it becomes a bit difficult for us to be professional. And then it’s often better to turn around and not comment on it and just do your job well and wind down your program. The advantage in the emergency room is that the (patient) goes to a ward after 4 hours at the latest. And if you then have lateral thinkers or opponents of vaccinations who are then on the ward and then also express themselves willfully to the nursing staff and medical staff and question everything again, but still want to have the complete treatment, it is difficult for us, then to remain neutral.
Katharina Frick: How do you look towards the coming winter?
Michael Steidl: I’m afraid that there will not be a fourth wave, but that there will be a tsunami that will reach us. In the nursing area, I believe that after this fourth wave we will have significantly fewer staff than before, because you simply say: “I don’t do this to myself anymore.” I’m just at work, just at work and at the end of it During the day nothing comes around because nobody gets smarter through it. There was no adequate vaccination quota. Caring for the patient is not the caring for the patient that I want to provide. I want to have adequate care. And I fear that there will be a higher level of stress and strain this winter than in the previous winter. Because of the fact that there are fewer nursing staff and because the patients keep storming the houses and we also – and I am a bit afraid of that – see influenza and novo virus coming our way. There wasn’t one last year because of all the hygiene regulations and lockdown stories.
Katharina Frick: In spring 2021, you and around 250,000 other people signed the stern nursing petition, which calls for a system change and an end to profit thinking so that the situation in homes and hospitals can fundamentally improve. Jens Spahn also supports the nursing staff’s demand for more wages. Has any of this already arrived in your everyday life?
Michael Steidl: No, nothing has arrived yet. So you have to be honest: It always seems like this to me when you need the fire brigade, then they’ll be called, but otherwise they shouldn’t cost anything. So it is with care. When we need them, we shout out loud: improve working conditions, improve pay. But as soon as the wave is over, the whole thing falls behind again and nobody cares anymore. I personally feel a little ripped off because one always hopes for the idea of the Florence Nightingale behavior of the nursing staff and the helper syndrome. But at some point it will also be exhausted and we will not generate any new caregivers if they know that they have to work under these conditions.
Katharina Frick: What do you hope for from the new federal government in relation to the nursing profession?
Michael Steidl: That you realize that a pandemic and profit cannot go hand in hand. That the clinics have to be financially supported in such a way that they can pay the nursing staff sensibly and that the working conditions are also better thanks to financial support. Because plus-minus bills will not work there, but sensible financial injections are needed to enable the clinics to improve their employees and their structures.
Source From: Stern
