Is the explanation simply that so many nurses are being forced to isolate with Omicron? Since even vaccinated staff can still spread it, so they still take the tests often, and isolate for 2 weeks if positive.
I would suggest the explanation is similar to the supply chain.
In the interest of profits we have wrung every ounce of every part of the system that runs healthcare. And at the end of all of those elements are human beings. Such systems are unstable. They work but are not fault tolerant at scale because no one ever really looks at the whole system they just look at a part of the system they control. I’m okay if healthcare is more like an a320 as opposed to an F22 because the F22 needs 50 man hours of maintenance to fly and the a320 does it’s thing in a much more germane fashion. Jwst can have 184 single point of failure actuators because it’s the bleeding edge, healthcare needs to have -184.
The problem is we see humans as humans. A machine breaks, it is not perceived as having agency, autonomy, or humanity we don’t blame it. When people die waiting in an er or healthcare personnel are short with patients or quit in droves there is a person whose actions and motives we can question and blame. We understand that experience slightly more and can find ways to question it.
It isolates the problems from view. When no one’s looking at the whole system (and being listened to) no one can shift course. It was not efficient to build capacity for truly abnormal events, so it didn’t make financial sense For anyone to do so. And now nurses are testing and isolating…and. Not just. And.
This has been relaxed greatly in 2022 at many hospitals. Most are isolating only for 5 days now under the new CDC guidelines, and some only if the person is symptomatic.
Exactly, "you've been a nurse for 30 years, you're 60yrs old, you tested positive for COVID and you still have symptoms, but if you don't come back into work after 5 days (without pay) you'll also face punishment when you return". Of course, if a patient get's COVID while under your care (and symptomatic) and chooses to sue you, "you're on your own babe!". Also, "it is mandatory that you get vaccinated/boosted, but also come into work the next day or you won't be paid and it will count as one of 4 unscheduled days off per year before termination".
We focus on human causes because we connect to them better. And because for many many people these are the concrete things that can understand when I’m a stressful situation. Abstract problems like decades of “capacity management” “workflow improvements” and “right sizing” are so abstract they don’t resonate with someone who is standing in an er in pain. They aren’t dumb they are stressed out. Stress is basically fight or flight…it makes us stupid.
Stress is why I made the firefighters put in safety glasses and got angry at them that I couldn’t find my glasses. Both while trapped under a literal oak tree
In the interest of profits we have wrung every ounce of every part of the system that runs healthcare. And at the end of all of those elements are human beings. Such systems are unstable. They work but are not fault tolerant at scale because no one ever really looks at the whole system they just look at a part of the system they control. I’m okay if healthcare is more like an a320 as opposed to an F22 because the F22 needs 50 man hours of maintenance to fly and the a320 does it’s thing in a much more germane fashion. Jwst can have 184 single point of failure actuators because it’s the bleeding edge, healthcare needs to have -184.
The problem is we see humans as humans. A machine breaks, it is not perceived as having agency, autonomy, or humanity we don’t blame it. When people die waiting in an er or healthcare personnel are short with patients or quit in droves there is a person whose actions and motives we can question and blame. We understand that experience slightly more and can find ways to question it.
It isolates the problems from view. When no one’s looking at the whole system (and being listened to) no one can shift course. It was not efficient to build capacity for truly abnormal events, so it didn’t make financial sense For anyone to do so. And now nurses are testing and isolating…and. Not just. And.