After 7 Months of COVID Battle, Medical Staff Face 'Burnout'... "Striking Doctors, Please Come Back Soon"

5700 COVID-19 Cases Since Mid-Last Month

Medical staff are busy working at the screening clinic inside Samsung Seoul Hospital. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy reporters Yang Nak-gyu (military specialist), Seo So-jung, Jo Seul-gi-na, Kim Heung-soon] Kim Hee-young (alias), a nurse with 10 years of experience at a large hospital in the Seoul metropolitan area, is currently dedicating herself to quarantine work while battling the recent resurgence of COVID-19 and the sweltering heat. She said, "Wearing protective gear such as protective suits, goggles, and masks quickly drenches me in sweat, and the humidity makes it difficult to even maintain clear vision," adding, "Because of this, it is not easy to accurately measure drug dosages for injections or medication." As of the 2nd, the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Korea has exceeded 20,000 (20,449), and about 5,700 new cases have been confirmed since mid-last month, putting the quarantine field on high alert. In addition, medical residents have launched an indefinite collective strike in protest against government medical policies such as expanding medical school quotas, causing severe workload overload for the remaining medical staff. Kim said, "I am responsible not only for isolated patients but also for general patients, and I cannot properly use the restroom for 12 hours straight, let alone have a meal or even drink water," appealing, "I hope the medical staff’s work can be normalized as soon as possible so that patients do not suffer."

COVID-19 and Strikes... Emergency at Quarantine Sites

Medical staff on the front lines of COVID-19 treatment, like Kim, are being pushed to their limits. Recently, nurses dispatched to local screening clinics have repeatedly collapsed due to dizziness. The number of diagnostic tests has increased to around 20,000 per day amid a surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases around Liberation Day, and the heat exceeding 30 degrees Celsius has caused symptoms of exhaustion.

As confirmed cases surge and hospitalized patients increase, the workload of nurses working at tertiary hospitals such as university hospitals is also becoming excessive. Nurse Lee Mi-yeon at a large hospital in Seoul is working overnight shifts alone. Normally, 1-2 residents and 3-4 nurses would form a team to handle night duties, but the collective strike by medical residents has changed the on-call schedule. Lee said, "Although the number of patients has decreased, I am solely responsible for night duties, so I am very concerned about urgent situations," adding, "Professors are not familiar with the tasks usually handled by interns or residents, and it is burdensome when I have to call the attending physician." Another nurse at a general hospital in the metropolitan area said, "Due to the shortage of medical staff caused by the residents’ strike, nurses are even substituting for some doctors’ tasks such as preoperative enemas and prescriptions."

The 'Nurses Society Acting for the Realization of Health Rights' recently stated in a declaration, "Nurses are giving up their vacations and working under increased labor with anxiety while staying by patients’ sides," and demanded that the strike be stopped, saying, "The doctors’ strike during the COVID-19 pandemic directly threatens the health and lives of many people."

On the 21st, a medical worker collapsed from exhaustion in front of a fire station in Jeonju [Image source=Yonhap News]

Hospitals Also Appeal "It Cannot Be Prolonged"
Ministry of National Defense Urgently Deploys Military Doctors to Civilian Medical Facilities

At large hospitals, attending physicians and professors are covering for the medical residents who are on strike, but there are concerns that the situation may worsen as some professor-level medical staff at certain university hospitals have also announced their participation in collective action. A representative from Sinchon Severance Hospital said, "The fatigue of attending physicians is accumulating due to night duties, and this week is seen as a critical point," adding, "The hospital has reached a consensus to avoid patient inconvenience, but if the strike prolongs, it will be difficult to bear the fatigue."

Seoul National University Hospital, where many residents and attending physicians have submitted resignation letters, is struggling to prevent gaps in medical care but finds it increasingly difficult to endure. A representative from Seoul National University Hospital said, "Medical staff are working hard to ensure that emergency patients do not go untreated," but added, "However, the fatigue accumulation among the remaining medical staff is severe, so we do not hope for a prolonged strike."

The Ministry of National Defense has decided to urgently deploy military doctors to nine civilian medical facilities in the metropolitan area starting from the 4th to manage the confusion caused by the COVID-19 resurgence and the medical community’s strike. In the first phase, 22 personnel will be dispatched to support metropolitan civilian medical institutions such as Incheon Medical Center and Inha University Hospital, and from the 4th, they will begin full-scale patient treatment at eight nationally designated negative pressure beds within Seongnam Armed Forces Capital Hospital, which has been converted to civilian COVID-19 intensive care beds. The scale of deployment will be expanded depending on the progress of the collective strike. This is the second time this year that military medical personnel have been dispatched to the civilian sector, following the group infection related to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus earlier this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.