Crespin, who worked with elderly people and had been a nurse for 42 years, said things like showering and teeth brushing weren’t done when staff were busy. She wasn’t able to take elderly patients for a walk around the ward to help with their mobility, she said.
Supplied “When you are rushing around, they are the things that get missed.” Staff were regularly doing 12- and 16-hour shifts because they didn’t want to let their colleagues down if a shift was short-staffed. It was enough to make older nurses want to retire early, and deter younger nurses from entering the workforce.
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