Mr. Zeng, the director of the Personnel Department at Chengdu Infectious Disease Hospital, said that starting next year, the Chengdu municipal government will implement a special job allowance for workers at Chengdu Infectious Disease Hospital, providing an annual subsidy of 12,000 yuan per person. "We hope this policy will help retain employees once it is implemented."
The most painful thing for medical staff is when people treat them as 'infection sources' and avoid them. "Many people do not understand AIDS or the work done at infectious disease hospitals. Sometimes, we don't know who to talk to when we feel wronged," said a male who claimed to be Ziyang Zhenren and was sentenced to four and a half years for raping women multiple times.
"Did you rinse your mouth today? Let me see if your tongue has been infected..." As soon as she entered the ward in the morning, Nurse Liu Xiaoxia warmly greeted her patients. The patient on bed 31 was drinking porridge, "Hey, are you feeling better today? You need to stay optimistic!" At this moment, the patient-oriented nurse seemed like a psychological counselor. When she approached bed 17, the patient's family member, Ms. Liu Ying, told reporters that she had seen the patient lose their temper with nurses many times, "The nurses say nothing, they just endure silently."
Greater risks come from occupational exposure. Dr. Zhou Ruifeng, deputy chief physician of Ward Three, introduced, "Due to the large number of patients, healthcare workers have a heavy workload. It's easy to experience occupational exposure when busy." Nurse Liu Xiaoxia introduced that since the establishment of the AIDS specialty department in 2008, there have been more than 30 cases of occupational exposure among healthcare workers, with four cases occurring this year alone.
Ward Three is the alias for the AIDS ward. The ward is considered the contaminated area, the adjacent office is the potentially contaminated area, and the other side of the corridor is the clean area.
Afterward, Yang Xiaolan will continue to undergo regular check-ups. She can only rest assured after confirming she hasn't been infected a year later. To date, Yang Xiaolan hasn't dared to tell her parents or in-laws the truth. "I only dared to tell my husband, and I'm very grateful that he has always been understanding."
Accidentally pricking her finger, a young nurse terminated her pregnancy
The entire Ward Three currently has 44 AIDS patients. It took Nurse Liu Xiaoxia over an hour to ask each one individually. Unlike the nurses performing injections and other care tasks who wore latex gloves, she didn't wear them while asking questions and occasionally patted the patients on the shoulder, only washing her hands afterward, "Excessive protection creates distance between us and the patients. Although it's troublesome, it makes us seem more approachable."
For the medical staff here, more pressure comes from what cannot be seen: risks of occupational exposure, patient complaints, and lack of family understanding... Not long ago, a nurse had to terminate her pregnancy due to occupational exposure. On the eve of World AIDS Day on December 1st, Huaxi Metropolis Daily takes you closer to this unique group of medical workers to learn about their lesser-known stories.
Patting shoulders and patiently guiding, checking all 44 patients one by one
On July 11th this year, Nurse Yang Xiaolan accidentally pricked her finger with a used needle while disposing of a patient’s IV needle into the recycling bucket. Blood immediately gushed out. Yang Xiaolan "was stunned for several seconds." After calming down, she left the ward without saying anything, "As soon as I turned around, tears streamed down my face."
"AIDS itself isn't a single disease but rather a state or syndrome where the body cannot resist other diseases. People don't die from AIDS, but from diseases related to AIDS." Although this disease, officially named "Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome," has been discovered and confirmed for 30 years, surveys show that many people still fear AIDS greatly, avoiding it as much as possible, yet not truly understanding it.
At 8 o'clock yesterday morning, wearing a tight mask, shoe covers, and hat, the reporter followed head nurse Liu Xiaoxia into the AIDS ward.
Another World AIDS Day is approaching. Starting today, our newspaper launches a "World AIDS Day Special Report," getting closer to AIDS patients, HIV-infected individuals, and healthcare workers related to AIDS, discussing together how to eliminate discrimination and properly address HIV.
December 1st, 2011, marks the 24th "World AIDS Day," with the theme being "Act up, towards 'zero' AIDS."
"It's almost unbearable when we go recruiting." Mr. Zeng, the director of the Personnel Department at Chengdu Infectious Disease Hospital, introduced that since participating in public recruitment in 2007, the hospital has recruited more than 70 doctors, but currently, 11 have already left. "One reason is the concern about working in an infectious disease hospital being too risky, and the second is the mismatch between income and treatment expectations." Nursing staff are even harder to recruit than doctors, Mr. Zeng said, since 2007, more than 100 nursing staff were recruited, but now half have resigned. Therefore, the hospital has implemented a nurse rotation system, rotating out of the AIDS ward after working there for a year.
At 8:15 in the morning, amidst the hustle and bustle of Jingju Temple Road, the medical staff of Building A's infectious disease ward at Chengdu Infectious Disease Hospital began their busy day. On the fourth floor in Ward Three, doctors and nurses gathered in the office for shift handovers. Even in the office, they were fully equipped, with nurse uniforms, caps, masks, etc., all present.
Understanding the difficulties of recruiting and retaining staff, half of the hundred nursing personnel have resigned.