HEALTHCARE WORKERS DESERVE BETTER
IT’S no exaggeration to say that frontline healthcare workers have had a particularly tough time during the first two years of the pandemic. For 104 weeks, they have had to treat the growing number of sick people, putting themselves at risk of contracting Covid themselves.
While this is the job they signed up for, our valiant healthcare workers have been heroes.
Yet, ahead of the Omicron wave reaching its peaking in coming weeks, these hardworking people say they felt left behind by the government and the public.
One Gold Coast University Hospital nurse has shared her experiences with the Bulletin, revealing the heartbreaking reality and cost of being on the front lines.
She says nurses don’t have access to rapid antigen tests to ensure their families remain safe, face masks have torn flesh from their faces and they often have to sleep in their cars before driving home after work because they’re beyond exhausted.
To say they have been stretched beyond the limits of human endurance in the name of saving lives is an understatement.
The hours they are putting into their jobs is only increasing, yet the support from the public and government has dried up.
Pandemic fatigue is understandable – we all want this to be over and have a semblance of normal life to resume, but it is clear we are not there yet and indeed have several difficult weeks ahead as cases peak.
Now, as our hospitals and intensive care units fill rapidly with patients, is the time these valiant workers deserve to get the support they were offered by a grateful public back in March 2020.
It is beyond cynical to see some politicians, especially those about to seek re-election, attempting to paint the pandemic as all but over.
It doesn’t matter how many times you say “how good’s the cricket?”, case numbers and ICU admissions are growing by the day and healthcare workers are facing profound pressure.
As much as we would all like life to be as it was pre-pandemic, trying to push the Overton Window to that mindset is insulting to those at the coalface.
Which brings us to the Gold Coast City Council’s decision to delay its deadline on compulsory vaccinations.
City council management had warned staffers that it wanted them to be all fully vaccinated by February 15, yet this has now been pushed back to March 31. It must be infuriating for healthcare workers to see council staff still dragging their heels on getting jabbed while they continue to struggle.