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The care system is dominated by women. It has radically changed in the last hundred years. What remains is lack of time and exhaustion.
Wearing a hood and a jupe: aspiring nurses in 1972 at the Uster District Hospital.
In the article you will find three different boxes. There, three possible nurses tell about their daily work.
When a virus carries people to respirators worldwide, the focus is on healthcare workers. Only they know how to properly connect the tube and how oxygen is pumped to the lungs to save lives. Nurses save lives. Day after day.
The care system itself suffers from a chronic condition: the lack of skilled workers. It is largely thanks to women who still tend to wounds, prevent falls from the elderly, and document the course of illness. In the nursing professions, their participation is around 85 percent.
They have shaped the profession for decades. England’s Florence Nightingale is considered a pioneer. In the mid-19th century, she campaigned for professional nursing and defined training standards. Nightingale recognized the central role of hygiene and advocated close observation of the patient. She was born 200 years ago today. International Nursing Day is celebrated on May 12 in his honor.
Florence Nightingale was born 200 years ago. She is considered a pioneer in care.
On the occasion of Nightingale’s birthday anniversary, the World Health Organization announced 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse”. In doing so, WHO wants not only to promote the reputation of nurses, but also to draw attention to their global failure. Last year, six million nurses went missing worldwide. Low- and middle-income countries are the most affected.
A nurse tells the story
Annina Bosshard (23)
«I chose nursing because I am interested in people. I am still fascinated by how complex the body is. Our work is extremely diverse. Training includes anatomy, pharmacology, pathology, and psychology. I like that I have to invoke very different knowledge depending on the situation. Everyone reacts differently. I decided not to study medicine because I am concerned about contact with the patient. I want to accompany patients and support them in difficult times. Unfortunately, in practice there is often not enough time to meet all your needs. Sometimes it almost rips me apart. Then I have to prioritize and refrain from talking, for example, even if a patient needs emotional support. But the next patient is already waiting. I would like to invite politicians in those days so that they can get an idea of our reality. I am always happy when patients return to normal. It is a good feeling when I have accompanied them so much that they no longer need me ».
Best paid, they work overtime in Switzerland, among other places. According to Yvonne Ribi, managing director of the Swiss Professional Association of Nursing Professionals and Nursing Professionals (SBK), between 30 and 40 percent of local nursing staff migrated or crossed a national border on the way to work. Ribi says: “This poses considerable risks.”
“If France or Italy had turned to their specialists in their own country during the pandemic, our health system would have collapsed.”
Away from the church, towards medicine
A high workload has shaped nursing care since the advent of modern medicine. A look at history shows this. Nursing has changed profoundly in the last hundred years. However, there was still a shortage of time and staff exhaustion. Many people hang up their gowns after a few years of work, nurses sometimes used to die from overwork.
Until the end of the 19th century, the women of the monastery in Switzerland were mainly concerned with the sick and wounded. After that, medicine care was assigned. However, religious continued to be a central pillar in the health system. In 1942, they provided just over half of all nurses. The term “nurse” dates back to them, which was still the official name until the beginning of the 21st century.
A nurse tells the story
Anika Brunner (21)
«I am finishing my university of applied sciences this summer. Towards the end of my training, I also asked myself the question: Do I want to do this to myself in the future? This has nothing to do with work, but with general conditions. We often lack the time to care for patients the way we want them to. After those days I go home with an unsatisfied feeling. What is holding me back anyway? The job is very demanding and exciting. You never know what to expect in the morning. I am fascinated that we accompany people both at the beginning of their lives and at the end. As a nurse, I always face emotionally difficult situations. In training you learn to deal with it. You can get a lot out of the gown, but there are also patients that I will never forget. It is normal for destiny to come closer. After all, we are only human.
Occupational nursing is the result of the establishment of modern medicine, which began to accelerate in the early 20th century. The Swiss Red Cross (SRK) founded the first nursing schools in 1899. Shortly thereafter, the Confederation designated the SRC as the central authority for Swiss nursing training. If he approved the training of other schools, they would receive grants from the Federal Department of Military Affairs.
In return, schools pledged to make two-thirds of apprentices available to the military in the event of war. An agreement that was still valid decades later. Bernese nurse and sociologist Barbara Dätwyler began her nursing training in 1969, and grew up in the process:
«We receive a tailored uniform. With the diploma we belonged to the army in the condition of corporal. »
Women have shaped the nursing profession. It offered an alternative to the family and the child and the opportunity to work abroad.
While “Make love, not war” spread in the cities, strict rules and hierarchies prevailed in nursing school boarding and hospitals. Visits to men were prohibited, as was whistling and running on the site.
For a long time, women seemed made for the nursing profession: sacrificed, devoted, and patient. “However, these external attributions should not hide the fact that the female profession was emancipated from the beginning,” says Datwyler. Even the religious had put their old knowledge and skills to the care. The profession later offered women an alternative to family and children. The job gave them a career and the option to work abroad.
But everyday nursing life was characterized by hard work and selflessness. This is demonstrated by the research of sociologist Datwyler, who in interviews illuminated the lives of nurses between 1930 and 1970. Women describe how they lived in their hospital ward, sometimes in a room between patients. The life situation of approximately ten percent of male caregivers was different. If they were single, they generally lived in their parents’ house, otherwise with their own family near their workplace.
An 80-hour week was normal, and free time was considered frowned upon.
For nurses, private and professional life were inextricably linked. They were available to their patients practically all day. A nurse describes how she lived with a seriously ill boy for weeks in a loft-like room to care for him. When it got inflamed, he had to change the bandages every hour. No shift changes, day and night.
A survey of all hospitals and sanitariums in 1940 showed that women worked an average of 75 to 80 hours a week. However, they did not press for a change in circumstances. The focus was on attention, not on working conditions themselves. Datwyler found this professional understanding during his apprenticeship:
“In 1969, nurses were still frowned upon to claim their free time.”
Medical tasks became increasingly complex and demanding.
However, fundamental innovations were evident due to a lack of staff in the 1970s: nurses moved from the hospital to the staff home and their wages increased by leaps and bounds. To make the job more attractive, indoor pools were built for the nursing staff, says Datwyler.
Shorter stays mean more intensive care
This no longer had to do household chores in the hospital. Rather, he took on increasingly complex and demanding medical tasks. However, Rosy was not everything: “In the boom, there was no longer a lack of resources, but rather personnel and, therefore, time for patients,” says Datwyler.
They have been saving in the healthcare sector again since the 1990s. It was then that the health care economy began. Today, economic pressure and highly specialized medicine mean that patients stay in the hospital for less. But that doesn’t mean any relief for nursing, says Ribi, managing director of SBK: “Patients are almost alone in very acute conditions in hospitals. Care has become much more intensive and complex. However, the percentage of jobs has hardly changed.
A nurse tells the story
Larissa Staub (27)
“I originally learned planning for construction technology. But I lacked sense and cooperation with people, so I decided to take care of him. I started my training in an acute hospital. However, economic factors dominated there; sometimes I felt like I was doing the work on tape. So I switched to psychiatry. Here the focus is more on people. I can also contribute my experience directly. A prescription was required for almost all actions in the hospital, even to be able to put on compression stockings for a patient. We bring nurses a lot of competence and knowledge. The flat-rate box system is also surprising. For example, a broken leg is compensated. However, it doesn’t matter if you got dementia with a 30-year-old or 80-year-old. The amount of care required differs greatly; that the flat case fee system does not realistically cover. Politics must finally react. It has been kept in healthcare for decades. This not only results in a lack of care; The lack of specialized personnel has a direct impact on the patient’s health. We may all need attention at some point. The shortage of staff could therefore affect us all. “
In the past few weeks, the coronavirus has demonstrated the importance of healthcare workers. Nurses are considered heroes of the crisis and read “Thank you. Merci Gracia. Grazia” on posters. Anyone who talks to caregivers will find that recognition is good for them. But it does not solve fundamental problems.
According to working radar, around 11,000 foster homes are currently open. There are no signs of relaxation of the situation. On the contrary. To ensure adequate care, 65,000 nurses would have to be trained in the next ten years. Ribi says:
“If we continue as before, we won’t even get half.”
Working conditions should also improve, he demands. Almost every second he leaves the profession prematurely, many years after completing his training. Often due to emotional exhaustion.
