It is still busy with corona patients in the Amphia Hospital. Nurse Arjan has been loaned from the emergency department to the IC to solve the staff shortages there. What strikes him most is that aggression in the hospital is increasing again. “It’s gotten out of hand a few times.”
The fourth corona wave is flooding hospitals in Brabant. Healthcare workers are on the front line everywhere. A number of them keep a video diary for Omroep Brabant.
“We have recently been dealing with patients who are in the ICU for a very long time,” Arjan explains the crowds in the hospital. “And those who have a long withdrawal process from the ventilator. That takes a lot of time and a lot of effort.”
The nurse is willing and able to work hard for those patients. “It’s part of the job.”
Arjan thinks that what is definitely not part of the job is the increased aggression in the hospital. It comes from patients and visitors. “In the emergency department, we notice that the fuse with patients is becoming shorter and shorter. We increasingly need security to address patients about their behaviour. And to address visitors about their behaviour.”
There is also more and more aggression on the IC. Especially from visitors, the relatives of the patients who lie there. “Particularly if a patient is not doing well and the doctors want to stop the treatment because it no longer makes sense. Visitors can then react very excited and intimidating.”
And that doesn’t stop with a little anger. “It has gotten out of hand a few times. A number of colleagues have already been seriously threatened. So much so that the hospital is taking steps against the visitors of these patients.”
The threats and aggression have repercussions on the employees of the Amphia. “There are colleagues who feel so unsafe that we walk out in a group and take that colleague safely to the car together. Those are not fun things.”
All stories in the Brabant Hou Vol series can be found on our theme page.