Submitted by Katja on Tue, 12/18/2018 - 11:12 Dear ECHDO-members, All around Europe and particularly in Germany we are in a state of emergency because of an enormous shortage of nursing staff. The situation in German is really dramatic: about 25 % of the beds in the intensive care units cannot be used because of the shortage of staff. This is also the reason for postponing surgeries in many cases. We all know what it means for parents and children, to travel many kilometers to the treating hospital and to hear there all the preparation, the consideration and the organizing has been in vain. We would like to know more about the situation in your countries. We kindly ask you to answer the following questions until the 29th of February 2020. Is there a lack of nursing staff in your country/in some of the hospitals? * Yes No If yes, what kind of staff? * Lack of nursing staff in general Lack of specialized experts for surgery/intensive care unit Lack of nursing staff in general and also specialized experts Are the parents in general aware about the fact, that there is not enough staff to treat their children properly? * Yes, the parents are well aware of the fact No, the parents doesn't know about the fact If no, is there a compulsary definition of how many nursing staff members per patient/open heart surgery are mandatory? At the intensive care unit? Nurse to patient ratio: At the "normal" ward? Nurse to patient ratio: Are there any steps that government/hospitals or others are taking to provide that lack? Any other remarks, additional info CAPTCHA This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Submit