Shortly after my apprenticeship, I got new work shoes because the old ones had become uncomfortable. During the training, it was stipulated that we had to wear white clocks, like those worn by many medical assistants. So it was the first time that I could choose my work shoes myself. Most of my colleagues wore trainers, so I chose a sporty pair made from breathable mesh. When I took them home to wash before my first vacation, I discovered a few small stains whose origins I couldn’t identify: blood, urine, saliva, IV fluids or just plain water – it wasn’t really hygienic anyway. I decided that from now on I need other shoes for work, wipeable ones.
Shoes are an important issue for us nurses. During a shift, I walk 6,000 to 7,000 steps – given my height and stride length, that’s a good five kilometers. You need sensible shoes if you don’t want to come home with painful feet.
My work shoe has to be wipeable, comfortable and light, waterproof and yet airy so that I don’t sweat in it – with cool feet I also have a cool head. In addition, the shape has to fit my foot perfectly and the sole has to be non-slip, otherwise things can go wrong when I have to walk to a patient. These are my personal requirements, which many of my colleagues share. But there are also official regulations, for example that we have to wear closed shoes with an enclosed heel – sandals or flip-flops are taboo in summer. The danger is too great that we stumble with such shoes and then injure ourselves or even a patient.
Intensive care specialist Pola Gülberg from the Ebersberger district clinic.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
I bought my current pair of shoes in February of this year. By Easter next year at the latest I will realize that I need new ones, by then they will be so worn out that my lower legs will burn after one shift. My colleagues, who don’t work 80 percent like me, but work full-time, the shoes last a year at most.
I already know: Next time I will buy different shoes. Not because my current ones aren’t good – I bought them from a professional store, they’re black and I love them. But I’ve never bought the same shoe twice. There is always something happening on the shoe market, in a year there may be new models that will meet my requirements even better. Hopefully there will be a colorful model that suits me – because I would prefer colorful shoes.
Pola Gülberg is an intensive care nurse. In this column, the 37-year-old talks about her work at the district clinic in Ebersberg every week. The collected texts can be found below sueddeutsche.de/thema/Auf Station.