February 20 is the National Day of health, social, health, social welfare and volunteer professionals, which this year coincides with the first anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.. In memory of those who lost their lives due to service, the secretary of Fials (Italian Federation of Local Autonomies and Healthcare) Mimma Sternativo he says: “We are proud of you, of us. Of those who faced the wards full of fear and death and pain, when it was not known what implications the virus could have for the health personnel, when we did not have the adequate means of protection, as long as we had none, we remained there. Standing in front of the avalanche. To act as a barrier to a virus that has killed too many people, too many Italians. Too many of us, doctors, nurses, health workers. We got sick, we fought and went back to our place. We have cried friends and relatives without being able to say goodbye, and we are left in our place. To heal people, even those who didn’t respect the rules, even those who called us heroes for a while and then forgot about us. With a warm heart for those citizens, so many, who have sent us gifts, gratitude, ice creams, affection “.
Care professionals and burnout risk
“Today we are fighting another battle, still invisible: the burnout which, however, does not seem to interest political institutions as well as employers, he continues Mimma Sternativo. “Professionals, not machines, who, like soldiers returning from a war, risk living a post traumatic disorder which greatly affects their lives. Beyond economic or social rewards, which in any case were nothing compared to the effort made, it is now important to take charge of their psychophysical malaise. If the administrations do not do something for the prevention but also for the cure of this state, there is a scientifically documented risk that the rate of absenteeism and turnover increases, that there is a decline in performance, quality of service and satisfaction. working. The Covid it has touched too many nerves, the lack of adequate protection and salaries, the “unsolved” due to too many cuts in health care, the fact that we are few. Because with 54,000 more nurses, everything would have been fine, or certainly it would have been better. It also showed who we are, how important we are, often alone. How much professionalism and passion we put into play. So we celebrate this February 20, for those who are no longer there and for you who are there. In your place, in the ward, in the clinics, on the ambulances, on the territory “.
February 20: the praises to the “Covid warriors” are not enough
The difficulties inherent in this delicate profession are also underlined by Antonio De Palma, national president of the Italian nurses union, Nursing Up: “On the occasion of this important anniversary, the praise for the Covid warriors could lead me to endlessly argue about the merits of those who really sacrificed themselves to defend, in this nefarious year, the health of Italians without ever sparing themselves. But above all I could let myself go by throwing poisonous arrows at those who could and should contribute to limiting the damage, but instead remained inexorably watching, hiding his head in the sand in front of the naked reality of the most ruthless numbers. Here we talk about data that draw a bleak picture: 81 official deaths among nurses since the beginning of the pandemic. 7129 health workers infected in the last 30 days, of which over 5 thousand (84.4% are INAIL data relating to nurses who are infected with respect to the rest of the health sector) are certainly professionals in a category that is still being tormented on a daily basis. “
The National Day of Health Professionals and the risk of indifference
“Nurses are tortured twice: yes because on the one hand the enemy we are accustomed to thinks about, a virus that surprised us, hit us in the back when it was unknown and virulent like never before, and that today even though we know it more deep down, continue to hurt us. Because climbing the mountains with bare hands leaves marks on the hands, involves three times the fatigue in the arms and legs and puts in the condition of leaving many victims on the road, who will fall down before reaching the goal. But allow me, in the National Day of Healthcare Professionals, remember that every day a much more dangerous opponent is organizing insidiously behind us, ready to impoverish all our efforts. Is called indifference: the one with which nurses play strength have gotten used to living for a long time. The one that draws the contours of disorganization, of exhausting shifts but above all of a contractual reality not yet up to our value, of our courage. What the citizens have wonderfully learned to appreciate even more by strengthening their esteem for us, while the political class knows no bounds, offending us with their petty dullness every time the opportunity arises! “, He adds. Palm.
February 20: the new challenges of assistance professionals
“But above all,” he continues Palm, “we, who have even learned to anesthetize our fears in order to fight, offer on the field one of the most complete and appreciated professional skills in Europe and yet, still mocking the jokes, we are among the worst paid in the Old Continent. Our 1400 euros per month of media scream for revenge every day, they make our anger rise to a climax! The 100 euros gross per month of specific allowance that we managed to win, after years of struggles, show that someone still has the ears to listen, but they are alone a sop with respect to the objectives, those 500 euros per month, which we deserve to obtain and for which I am certain that we will continue to fight in the coming months ”.