Hospital overload: Doctors and nurses 'stretching themselves' amid increasing patient pressure

(DN) - Many provincial and regional hospitals in Dong Nai province are overloaded due to the high number of patients that has lasted for many weeks.

To avoid patients having to share beds, hospitals have to add more beds. With so many patients, doctors and nurses are constantly working overtime, increasing their hours and pressure.

The number of patients increased continuously.

Since the beginning of October, the number of patients admitted to the Cardiology - Geriatrics Department, Long Khanh Regional General Hospital has nearly doubled compared to last month, with 120 patients. Meanwhile, the hospital bed quota of the department is only 80 beds, so to have enough space for patients, the department has to borrow more beds from other departments and put them in any available space. 70-80% of the patients in the department are treated for pneumonia, many of whom are severe and require ventilators.

The number of patients being treated at the Department of Cardiology - Geriatrics, Long Khanh Regional General Hospital has increased. Photo: Bich Nhan

On October 23, the department had 20 patients requiring oxygen, 2 patients requiring CPAP, and 1 patient requiring a ventilator who had to be transferred to the Emergency - Intensive Care Department for further treatment. "The patient rooms and hallways were full of patients, the department had no more space. The overload was partly due to the number of patients transferred from lower levels, and partly due to the changing weather, making the elderly more susceptible to infection," said Dr. Nguyen Vo Chien, Deputy Head of the Department of Internal Medicine, Cardiology - Geriatrics, Long Khanh Regional General Hospital.

Not only the inpatient department, but also the emergency department in many hospitals has recorded a sudden increase in patients. Master - resident physician Bui Thanh Tuan, Head of the Emergency Department - Emergency Resuscitation, Dong Nai General Hospital, informed: For many consecutive weeks, the department has been overloaded. From the end of September until now, the number of patients in the department has been at 210-230 patients/day, while before, the number of patients only fluctuated from 170-190 cases/day. Most of the patients were admitted to the hospital in serious condition, needing emergency resuscitation with all kinds of diseases such as: cardiovascular, neurological, respiratory...

The Emergency Department - Intensive Care Unit, Dong Nai General Hospital has been packed with patients for many weeks. Photo: Bich Nhan

Doctor Tuan shared: “This time, the sudden increase in the number of patients has caused the department to lack beds and human resources, which has put us under more pressure. We have mobilized the maximum number of stretchers in the entire hospital to receive patients. Even doctors who are not on duty and only do administrative work must participate in receiving patients, and at the same time coordinate with specialists to transfer patients to treatment and surgery departments to ensure patient safety and have space to receive new cases.”

Desire to extend Resolution 34

Despite the high number of patients, fortunately there were no professional errors. Both doctors and nurses were "stretched" to work continuously, without lunch breaks and staying up all night because of the continuous influx of patients.

“Many days when it was time to leave the shift, the number of patients was still high, I had to stay and work overtime. But what we were most worried about was the pressure from the patients' relatives. Because doctors prioritize examining serious cases, nurses also prioritize care and carry out medical orders for serious patients first, and then do the mild cases. But the patients' relatives did not understand, so they reacted harshly, even raising their voices at the doctors and nurses to put pressure. At that time, we were both tired from the overload of work and tired from not being understood by the patients' relatives" - Nurse Dong Cam Nhung, Department of Emergency - Resuscitation, Dong Nai General Hospital confided.

Both doctors and nurses have to work overtime continuously because of the increasing number of patients. Photo: Bich Nhan

Instead of a 24-hour shift, for many weeks now, Dr. Chien and the department's staff have had to extend their working hours to 36 hours. This means that both doctors and nurses cannot rest after their shifts. They do not even have Saturday or Sunday off because they have to go to the hospital to increase the number of patients. "This whole year, I have had almost no weekends off, working longer and harder hours," said Dr. Chien.

According to specialist doctor 2 Nguyen Thi Lan Phuong, Head of General Planning Department, Long Khanh Regional General Hospital, the hospital is currently overloaded in many departments: Cardiology - Geriatrics, General Internal Medicine, Neurology, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Infectious Diseases... These departments are all in a state of having more actual beds than the number of beds according to the target and plan.

Doctor Phuong shared: “In order for patients to have a place to be treated and not have to share beds, we are forced to add more beds, but when settling health insurance payments, the provincial Social Insurance agency only pays for the exact number of beds as planned. Therefore, we will lose revenue from hospital beds and expenses such as electricity, water, garbage, etc. for the additional beds. From then on, the hospital's revenue will decrease and medical staff will also have their income reduced despite working hard and not having days off.”

Resolution 34/2022/NQ-HDND of the People's Council of Dong Nai province (old) dated December 8, 2022 stipulating the medical resource support regime for Dong Nai province for the period 2023-2025 has helped civil servants and employees at public medical facilities in the province to somewhat stabilize their income and feel secure in their work, and stay with the health sector for a long time. However, this resolution will end at the end of this year.

“This is a concern of many medical staff. In fact, even though there are many patients and limited human resources, we still work hard to treat patients. Therefore, I hope that the Provincial Party Committee, People's Council, and People's Committee will continue to pay attention to the lives of medical staff in the coming time, and extend Resolution 34 so that everyone can work with peace of mind" - Master - resident physician Bui Thanh Tuan, Head of the Department of Emergency - Emergency Resuscitation, Dong Nai General Hospital wishes.

Bich Nhan

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/y-te/202510/benh-vien-qua-tai-y-bac-si-cang-minh-giua-ap-luc-benh-nhan-tang-cao-8ab4417/