Facilitation for nursing staff required – salzburg.ORF.at
Coronavirus
In view of the lack of care, the union and the SPÖ are calling for quick relief for the nursing staff. Specifically, it is about paying nursing staff during their training and about fewer documentation requirements in the daily work in the retirement home.
The coronavirus omicron wave is further exacerbating the shortage of staff in the Salzburg retirement homes. In the homes of the city of Salzburg alone, more than 90 nursing beds cannot be used at the moment because there is a shortage of nursing staff. And there would be more every week, says Social Councilor Anja Hagenauer (SPÖ): “Every week one or two beds are added because we cannot look after the people due to the lack of staff.”
Documentation very time consuming
The omicron wave clearly shows how thin the staffing level is. Therefore, the state of Salzburg should reduce the documentation requirements for nurses. According to Hagenauer, these would take up around two hours of working time every day. In addition, nursing training should finally become more attractive, and prospective nurses should be paid normally during their training, just like police officers. In addition to Hagenauer, this is also demanded by the trade union federation in an open letter.
State government refers to federal government
In order to be able to meet this requirement, the state is waiting for money from the Federal Ministry, says state social affairs officer Heinrich Schellhorn (Greens): “Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens) has promised 50 million euros per year for this. Salzburg could benefit from this with around three million euros. I hope that the guidelines for allocating these funds will come as soon as possible. That probably won’t be long.” The documentation requirements for nursing staff, on the other hand, are regulated by federal law. The country has no influence on this, according to Schellhorn.