interview
Clinic strike in Berlin
“We give up to be there for others”: A nurse explains why she had to go on strike as a last resort
Numerous nurses and other employees take part in a rally in Berlin. The recording was made at the end of August 2021.
© Jörg Carstensen / / Picture Alliance
Employees of the state-owned Berlin clinics have been on strike for a month. The carer Carolin Puschke is one of them. In the interview she talks about the reasons. She says, “We don’t need any more clapping. We need specific remedies.”
Ms. Puschke, Berlin clinic employees from Charité, Vivantes and the Vivantes subsidiaries have been on strike since 9 September for better working conditions and more staff. You are one of them. What made you personally stop working?
The current working conditions, which in my opinion are no longer sustainable. Not for me, not for my colleagues, but also for the patients we care for.
You work as a health and nurse in the psychiatric field. What are the biggest problems in everyday clinical practice?
We are too few staff and hardly have time for patients. This is a big problem in many hospital wards, but it poses particular challenges, especially in the psychiatric area. We take care of people with severe depression and people in crisis situations. Many of them can no longer do even the smallest everyday tasks independently or pose a threat to themselves or to others. We caregivers are contact persons, companions and confidants. We need time for the therapies and sometimes we have to be able to listen in order to experience the worries and needs of our patients and to be able to respond to them. Unfortunately we hardly have this time.
Little time on the one hand and patients with diverse needs on the other – how do you manage this balancing act in everyday life?
We only manage the bare minimum. But the bare minimum is not enough for us. We want to care for them professionally – just as we have learned to do. Of course, we ensure the safety of the patients on our ward. But our security goes down the drain. In a sense, we give up ourselves to be there for others. And this stress is in the bones, every day.
© private
In the interview
Carolin Puschke (35) works as a health and nurse on a psychiatric ward in a Vivantes clinic in Berlin. As a team delegate, she advocates the interests of her ward area.
What are you asking for?
Better working conditions, relief in the form of more staff and a tariff adjustment for employees of the Vivantes subsidiaries. It is positive that we are currently in negotiations, but they are going very slowly. From my point of view, there has been little accommodation so far, but we are now working very specifically to achieve the best possible solution for everyone – nurses, therapists and trainees. All trades are important and need good working conditions in order to do what we ultimately love to do best: good care.
The problems in care have not only existed since the corona pandemic. At the same time, many employees find it difficult to organize themselves in unions and to campaign for better working conditions. What do you think: why is that?
There are many questions, for example about financing during the strike period or whether there are any possible consequences under labor law. But you have to be very clear: strike is a fundamental right. It is also important to me to emphasize that we do this for everyone – including our colleagues who are not on the street with us.
Some outsiders ask themselves: Are caregivers even allowed to strike? What about the patients?
The normal state endangers patient safety. For our part, we have drawn up an emergency service agreement and some of our colleagues from the strike have been assigned to ward duty in order to guarantee supplies. We only strike because we have to. Because otherwise we are unfortunately not listened to. It should be said that we had made demands 100 days in advance and offered talks. So the strike was not a surprise, but in the end it was an expression of the importance of finally improving working conditions. We don’t need any more clapping. We need concrete remedial action.
A demonstration is planned for October 9th, starting at 12 noon at Hermannplatz in Berlin. What are you hoping for?
We look forward to exchanges and support from the population. It would be great if as many as possible came. At some point in life everyone comes to the point where they need help and care, sooner or later. Now we need help.