The working conditions of a nurse in a hospital : interview.
Elodie : Hello Matthew, how are you?
Matthew : Hello Elodie, I’m fine thank you and you?
Elodie : I’m fine too. Thank you for agreeing to talk to me about your work as a nurse in the hospital. First of all, how long have you been working at the hospital?
Matthew : I graduated from nursing school three years ago and have been working in the hospital since I graduated.
Elodie : How do you feel in your job? Are the working conditions what you expected?
Matthew : I think that our working conditions as nurses are not optimal. However, with the many internships I did during my studies, I knew what to expect afterwards.
Elodie : I have heard that working conditions have been deteriorating for several years. In addition, there is a lack of nurses in hospitals. Indeed, nurses working in hospitals would go to the private sector or even change direction due to these bad working conditions. Can you tell us a little more about this?
Matthew : Yes, of course. Before the COVID crisis there was already a lack of beds for patients and many last minute schedule changes. On top of all that there was also a lack of recognition. With COVID this has increased, the number of patients has increased but the means have not increased, we found ourselves with even fewer beds, we had to work more which had a lot of consequences on our privacy.
Elodie : Yes, I imagine that with the health crisis, this has not helped. We notice that with the lack of staff in the hospital, students are often used to cope with this absenteeism and sometimes do not have sufficient supervision which leads to a negative vision of their future profession.
Matthew : Indeed, the students are not always supervised as they should be. I also wanted to add that because of the lack of nurses we are asked to go faster. Sometimes I have the impression that we are working on a production line, we sometimes forget that we are working with humans.
Elodie : Do you plan to continue working in the hospital if these conditions do not change?
Matthew : Maybe another three or four years, but no more.
Elodie : To improve the working conditions of nurses, participative management could be a good idea. Indeed, it allows to find solutions to a problem as a team. This has several advantages. First of all, there will be a better recognition of the team. Then participating in the decisions will allow to feel actor in his work. Finally, the person will feel more valued.
Matthew : Indeed, this could be a positive thing. We would feel more listened to and understood.
Elodie : It would also allow nurses to find meaning in their work.
Matthew : But I think that for this to work, it will have to be done through an increase in the budget given to the hospital.
Elodie : Thank you very much for sharing your experience, and good luck for the future.
Matthew : Thanks to you.