COVID-19 exposed the cracks in our crippled healthcare system — one that relies on overworked staff to meet ridiculous expectations with little pay, little sleep and even less support. Healthcare workers have been fucked over for years, but now they’re at breaking point and sharing their frustrations on Reddit.
A healthcare worker started the conversation in Reddit forum r/Australia
“Public healthcare in Australia is on its knees…”“She just said ‘fuck it, I’ll retire then'”…“Nothing could’ve felt worse than returning to the hell-hole that is hospital nursing…”“The nurses were so burnt out and always understaffed.”“A global pandemic increased our demand by 300% and reduced the workforce by 20%.”“The pandemic has given upper management the ultimate get out of jail free card to completely fuck over their staff.”“You can legally refuse to take on extra patients…” “For the next 5-10 years numbers will never catch up.”“A broken institution is like working on a sinking ship.”“These jerks can figure out their sinking ship on their own”“I’ve cared so much, but I need to care for myself.”“Hospitals have been allowed to cut staffing and abuse the staff that stayed with shitty rostering and inept management.”“Healthcare is hanging by a thread.”“Healthcare and education are the two pillars of a functioning society, and years of cost-cutting has gutted them both.”“More beds to put patients into and budget to staff those beds.”
and titled their post “Healthcare workers in Australia are not ok.” The post has close to 400 comments in response, mostly from other healthcare workers sharing their absolutely abysmal experiences in the field.
Folks, it’s chaos out there.
Two users shared stories about Aussies in nursing getting denied leave or altered hours. Unfortunately nobody in the hospitals wants to see people move to part-time, so people just up and leave.
This next user’s comment fucked me up. She shared how being a nurse in a hospital was such a hellscape that she had to escape.
She was being overworked while having cancer and a newborn infant, but the system had absolutely no respect for her in return.
Some folks shared their perspective as patients in a hospital where all the staff are completely burnt out. This issue doesn’t just affect those who work in the healthcare system, but everyone.
This next Reddit user made it clear that this issue wasn’t borne from the pandemic demand, it was exacerbated. The fire has always been burning away at our healthcare workers, we just ignored it until it became an all-consuming blaze.
“When you realise that the pandemic has given upper management the ultimate get out of jail free card to completely fuck over their staff,” they wrote.
“Ratios breached because it’s ‘operationally unavoidable’, forced overtime because it’s ‘operationally unavoidable’, leave refused because it’s ‘operationally unavoidable’ despite pushing forward with elective surgeries because [of money].”
One Reddit user decided to point out small steps that healthcare workers can take to try and wrangle such a shit situation. Ultimately, there isn’t much they can do, but these are better than nothing
Real help will come when the government decides to recognise we have a problem.
“Each and every shift you’re expected to work over ratio, report it to your union rep or IO. Every time. Get your colleagues to do the same,” they wrote.
“You can legally refuse to take on extra patients as well.”
Here are a couple of posts talking generally about how fucked over the industry is:
This next user highlighted the abuse they faced within the healthcare profession, saying they refused to do anything but part-time hours because of how detrimental it would have been to their health.
One Reddit user who claimed to be a doctor said they would not renew their contract and had friends who were doing the same.
We can’t expect people to constantly work through states of fatigue and mental collapse. Healthcare workers deserve better.
Friends, just because you can sit at a cafe without your “uncomfortable” mask doesn’t mean the pandemic is over. Healthcare workers are still feeling the strain, and have never felt relief.
Here are some more posts about how the healthcare industry is fkn collapsing:
And finally, here’s a post from the original creator of the thread pointing out what five things they would change tomorrow if they could.
“More beds to put patients into and budget to staff those beds,” they wrote.
“Updated digital infrastructure (ie computers and tablets on each ward.
“A state-wide electronic medical record.”
Well, if this whole article hasn’t put you in an angry mood, I don’t know what to say.
Labor fkn do something challenge.
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