Post by montegobayjobs on Aug 18, 2021 10:03:32 GMT
A number of nurses at Savanna-la-Mar Hospital did not show up for work on Tuesday, citing exhaustion from the stress of battling rising COVID-19 cases in Westmoreland.
It's understood that only about half of the nursing staff showed up for work.
Initial reports had suggested the nurses were on strike, but Patsy Edwards Henry, President of the Nurses' Association of Jamaica, said this is not the case, but the nurses are "genuinely sick."
"When I spoke to them, what they are saying is that the nurses are tired. They are tired physically, they are tired mentally. Some of the patients that they have to care for and the environment within which they have to work, they are just exhausted," she explained.
Mrs Edwards Henry said the workload at the hospital has been overwhelming for nurses, with the facility now more than 200 per cent of capacity.
"Every time the nurses turn they are either touching someone or something. The environment does not foster good working relations. They are just tired," she reiterated.
Initial reports had suggested the nurses were on strike, but Patsy Edwards Henry, President of the Nurses' Association of Jamaica, said this is not the case, but the nurses are "genuinely sick."
"When I spoke to them, what they are saying is that the nurses are tired. They are tired physically, they are tired mentally. Some of the patients that they have to care for and the environment within which they have to work, they are just exhausted," she explained.
Mrs Edwards Henry said the workload at the hospital has been overwhelming for nurses, with the facility now more than 200 per cent of capacity.
"Every time the nurses turn they are either touching someone or something. The environment does not foster good working relations. They are just tired," she reiterated.