Attacks, exhausting shifts and thefts: the summer of nurses is served. The unions are raising the alarm while the countdown to the season has already started. From Nursing up, the provincial manager of Rimini, Anselmo Torre outlines the heart-pounding premise: «Like every year, work will increase especially for some departments or operational units such as 118 and the emergency room». This is not only due to the enormous volume of users, but above all because holidaymakers suddenly lack the usual contacts, first and foremost the general practitioner. The numbers, however, “only partially translate into reinforcements compared to the normal allocation in the Rimini area compared to 6 more ambulances during the daytime and only one addition at night”. And, according to the union, this is just the tip of the iceberg. One of the most delicate games is in fact played on the behavior of patients, given the growing aggressive acts due to nightlife, but above all abuse of alcohol and narcotic substances. «An underestimated figure – Torre comments – because there is often a lack of complaints against patients, especially psychiatric ones». The nurses basically overlook the insults received knowing that they are often dictated by the fragile situations of the tourists. A choice, Torre continues, which however does not go beyond the need for greater protection to support the sector.
The theft of bicycles is also an age-old issue “which discourages gentle mobility given the lack of dedicated parking”.
The ASL policy, they conclude from the union acronym, favors the use of public transport through ad hoc discounts, which however do not cover night time slots, but would not show the same attention for bikes.
The security node
From Nursind, the legal representative for Rimini and Cesena, Lino D’Urso, focuses on the additional workload ensured by the summer «which must be added to the chronic shortage of staff, the holidays that each employee must see recognized and the absences for parental leave, considering the closure of schools”. So another season is looming “with double shifts, missed rest periods and perhaps the risk of denied holidays”. How to overcome these problems? By hiring new recruits, D’Urso responds with enthusiasm, it’s a shame that the money to proceed is lacking, while the government issues decrees that increase services in hospitals and in the area but without a euro to recruit more staff.
Reverse course
The solution, continues the representative, exists but it is not practicable, consisting in the reduction of services which would go against the users. A very delicate scenario, therefore, «which pushes younger colleagues to flee abroad while the trend of layoffs increases. This says a lot about how the situation is changing. – D’Urso spreads his arms -. Unfortunately in Italy there is no investment in the care and management of the public service but services are derogated from the private sector. If this trend is not reversed soon – she hypothesizes – our much-loved national health system will die.” Restoring appeal to this profession, according to D’Urso, should be a mission of both the government and the Regions but the solution is not to hire professionals from more disadvantaged countries “because they are satisfied with low salaries without much fuss”. Above all, according to Nursind, it is necessary to understand that the figure of the nurse today is central to patient care and increasingly called upon to answer for their actions in front of the judge with prohibitive spending commitments for legal protection. A prospect that everyone experiences as a sword of Damocles swinging over their head “for any possible claims for damages”.
