[Attitude of health care workers towards SARS-CoV-2 vaccination]. / Einstellung von Pflegekräften zur SARS-CoV-2-Impfung : Eine strukturierte Umfrage in Kliniken in Deutschland.

OBJECTIVES: Attitude of health care workers (HCW), namely registered nurses, towards SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and compulsory vaccination. METHOD: In a structured anonymous scientific survey from January 29 to April 26, 2021 a questionnaire was sent to 72 heads of orthopedic and trauma departments. The doctors were asked to distribute and recollect the questionnaire after obtaining informed consent from the hospital administration, the nursing management and the works council. Descriptive statistics were used to explain the results. RESULTS: 355 answers from 5 departments were evaluated. In 65 out of 72 hospitals the top managers of either hospital or nursing administration or the works council declined participation, 2 heads of department were not interested. 50,7% of HCW were already vaccinated or had a scheduled appointment for vaccination, 14,9% had not yet made up their mind and 34,4% refuse vaccination. The majority of HCW vote against compulsory vaccination (47,6%), less than a quarter approves it (23,4%). CONCLUSION: The willingness to vaccinate was extremely low in this survey. The main reason for refusal to vaccinate is fear of side effects, so an information campaign should primarily focus on this topic.

[Preparing for a pandemic]. / Vorbereitungen auf eine pandemische Welle.

On 16 March 2020 the government of Bavaria declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This confronted all clinics with completely new and difficult challenges. In accordance with the official requirements, pandemic officers were appointed at the Kempten Clinic and a clinical management team was established. It was important to keep a relevant proportion of employees off duty at all times, and thus to have a constant reserve available in the event of expected infection-related absences of physicians and nurses. These structural changes were complemented by staff briefings and the creation of a training program on the subject of COVID-19. Within a very short time, algorithms were designed and defined how to manage patients presenting in the hospital or in the emergency room. The surgical program was limited to operations that could not be postponed, such as extrauterine pregnancy or adnexal torsion, and oncological diagnoses without the possibility of primary systemic therapy. In the case of breast cancer, however, therapy was started in all cases in which primary systemic therapy (PST), whether cytotoxic or endocrinological, appeared possible and indicated. As of 1 April 2020, more than 50% of the usable beds in the Kempten Clinic were empty. The utilization of the intensive care unit had also been reduced so that higher numbers of patients requiring artificial respiration could have been cared for at any time.