Slovakia Joins European Campaign on Impacts of Fatigue on Health-care Workers

Bratislava, 21 September (TASR) - Slovakia is joining a European campaign focusing on the impacts of fatigue on the well-being and safety of health-care workers in cooperation with the European Patient Safety Foundation (EUPSF), TASR learnt at a press conference held by civil association That's Why (Prave preto) earlier this week. The aim of the campaign titled 'Exhausted? Fighting Fatigue Together! Health-care Workers Are Humans Too' is to launch a discussion on fatigue as a legitimate issue in health care, to reinforce a culture of safety and care not only for patients but also for health-care workers, to raise awareness about fatigue, its impacts, and stress management, and to create a system of support and care for health-care staff. According to the World Health Organization, as many as 84 percent of health-care workers regularly experience significant physical and mental exhaustion, which reduces their concentration and can lead to both minor and serious errors. In Slovakia, the problem is exacerbated by staff shortages, while it is still considered a taboo, which makes things worse. The organisers also pointed out that Slovakia lacks a unified strategy for monitoring patient safety, while the reporting of errors is stigmatised because health-care workers fear losing their jobs. Furthermore, no schemes or support programmes that address fatigue and exhaustion are in place. "Exhausted health-care workers cannot be a force that holds the health-care system together. If we want to protect patients, we must equally protect those who take care of them," stressed Miroslava Cikkelova, General Secretary of the EUPSF. The organisers of the campaign also called on health-care facilities, professional organisations, patient associations and organisations outside the health-care sector to join the initiative. jrg/df