This is the fourth major conference organized by the Healthcare Facility in Bolesławiec. Approximately 160 women are taking part in the meeting. This year’s conference for nurses and midwives is being held under the slogan "New Challenges in Nursing and Midwifery." Employees of both Bolesławiec hospitals, as well as hospitals in Bogatynia, Zgorzelec, Jelenia Góra and Lwówek Śląski, are participating in the conference.
The topics discussed at the meeting are varied. "We wanted to focus on problems that affect nurses in their work, namely stress and professional burnout," says Barbara Kozomaricz, Chief Nurse of the Healthcare Facility in Bolesławiec and co-organizer of the meeting. Another extremely important issue in this profession, which will also be discussed during the conference, is motivation. A lecture on this subject will be delivered by MSc Urszula Żerkowska from Wrocław, a representative of the Polish Nurses Association.
These are difficult times for both professions. There are fewer and fewer nurses and midwives. There is no recruitment to nursing schools. Two nurses for 30 patients is decidedly too few. Working under such conditions involves prolonged stress. However, as Barbara Kozomaricz admits, "our women cope with it very well."
In a conversation with journalists from the Boleslawiec.org portal, Barbara Kozomaricz addressed the highly publicized issue of strikes. "Our nurses were in Warsaw when the protest began. Tonight, some of the nurses are going to Warsaw again. We will support them and keep our fingers crossed. Let us hope that it ends well and that they reach an agreement," says the conference’s co-organizer. "Nurses are the largest and most visible group. They are fighting for their dignity and livelihood. Political sympathies and antipathies have no significance here," adds the nurse, also referring to Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński’s accusations against the strikers.
Some nurses from Bolesławiec are leaving to support the healthcare workers’ protest; nevertheless, as Barbara Kozomaricz assures us, the residents of Bolesławiec have care provided. The nurses remaining at the conference are already thinking about organizing another one. The meetings organized by the Healthcare Facility serve not only an educational purpose. They also help integrate the nursing community. "The attendance alone proves that these conferences are needed," the co-organizer says with a smile.
(information GA/photos MZ)