Bursting

No, not bursting into tears (yet!).

Am talking about the unit where I am currently working in, which is the unit that provides monitoring and treatment for patients who are critically ill or in an unstable condition. The unit is currently working at full capacity with all beds being occupied, and we have had to open up extra beds outside the unit. We are bursting with patients.

Even though we maybe able to find beds, there's not much point if we can't find the medical and nursing staff to support them. The patient:nurse ratio is meant to be 1:1, but can be stretched to 2:1 if needed, but that's not ideal.

Apparently, it's not only our hospital which has been affected. Every other unit in the county is working at maximum capacity as well. Not an ideal situation to be in as it means elective surgeries which are deemed high-risk have to be cancelled as there is no post-operative care beds available to look after them. It's not fair for patients who are waiting for their surgeries but unfortunately, what can we do, with our limited resources? I really hope this crisis sorts itself out soon.

If any non-medical person is interested to know more about the unit, this NHS website provides a good overview of the unit.