Nursing crisis

Some relief in sight for operations

The very long waiting times for operations annoy patients and put a strain on nursing staff. To bridge the nursing staff shortage, the regional hospitals are bringing in help from Colombia.(Bild: Tröster Andreas)

The Salzburg regional hospitals are bringing in Colombian OR nurses to help with the staff shortage. The first twelve will land next week.

My staff are at the limit," says Franziska Moser, Director of Nursing at Salzburg University Hospital. Seeing that people only get their surgery appointments after many months does something to them. The nursing staff have had to make up for the shortage of nurses with their manpower for years.

German is extremely important in the OR
There will be no improvement in Salzburg any time soon. Special OR nurses from Colombia are now in sight. Twelve are flying from Bogota to Salzburg next Thursday. They are trained, but still have to complete courses and reach German level B2. "In the operating theater, you have to understand what the surgeon is saying. This is vital for survival," explains the nursing director.

The first dozen of the urgently needed nursing staff should be allowed to work in the operating theater by Christmas. A further 13 nurses are also due to arrive in Salzburg by Christmas. Plus around 15 regular nurses.

The first surgical assistants trained by SALK will not be ready until 2025. SALK criticizes the federal government, saying that this could have been done more quickly. Critical voices from the medical field call the staffing crisis home-made: "The state government has cut nursing care in recent years".