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Alarm in the nursing home: seniors evacuated due to a lack of staff!
On July 16, 2023, seniors were evacuated from a shared apartment in Nauen due to a lack of staff. Mayors and experts warn of structural problems in care.
Alarm in the nursing home: seniors evacuated due to a lack of staff!
On July 17, 2023, the assisted living community for seniors at Ernst-Thälmann-Straße 2 in Nauen became the scene of a dramatic incident. The police had to be alerted to evacuate the remaining residents from the facility.
The day before, there were still five residents and a nurse in the shared apartment when the nursing service manager called the emergency number at around 3 p.m. The reason: an acute shortage of staff, which no longer guaranteed adequate care for seniors. Two ambulances, an organizational manager of the rescue service and a senior emergency doctor were quickly on site to help. The situation on site was alarming, as neighbor Siegfried Usarek reported, who spoke of untenable conditions as only two nurses were responsible for the 24-hour operation.
Impact of staff shortages
Working in nursing is currently a real challenge. Around 1.7 million people are employed in this sector and struggle with difficult conditions every day. Care shortage in Germany emphasizes that working relationships are characterized by stress, time pressure and overtime. Experts are observing a critical situation, particularly in geriatric care – primarily in the outpatient sector. Many nursing services are no longer accepting new patients or have to terminate existing contracts, which hits single seniors particularly hard.
These increased structural problems in nursing are not new. Mayor Manuel Meger showed respect for the committed nursing staff and pointed out the profound challenges in the industry. He explained that many care facilities such as the seniors' shared apartment in Wachow, which was taken over after the Kenbi company went bankrupt, can no longer fulfill their tasks.
Repeated incidents
A similar incident occurred on June 28, 2023 in another seniors' shared apartment in Wustermark, where a lack of nursing staff also endangered the care of the residents. One affected senior citizen even reported inadequate food - an alarming sign for an industry that has recently come into greater focus.
The MAZ had asked Pflegewerk for a statement on the incidents, but had to wait until July 17 for a response. It remains to be hoped that politicians and those responsible will quickly find solutions to ensure the quality of life of seniors and sustainably overcome the challenges in the care industry. The emergency call from Nauen is just another example of the urgent need for action in the area of care.