I work at a hospital. Before covid there was already this problem. It's because there aren't enough nurses. There are entire wings of our hospital closed from lack of nurses. That's the real reason.
In our case, it was definitely beds that were full. Mom was in ICU room 1 so we had to walk past all the other rooms (with glass doors) to get there. I guess we just got lucky that they had enough staff on hand. They were busy but patients seemed to be cared for.
It's sad though, what you/FIL experienced--beds available but nobody to care for people. I hope nothing else like this ever happens again in our lifetimes. Just visiting ICU was sad. Some rooms I'd walk by the patient would be like my mom...conscious, kinda sitting up, watching tv or finishing the cookie that came with lunch that day. Other rooms had unconscious patients with tubes & lines coming out of every conceivable orifice. I wanted to respect everyone's privacy--to not look--but it was my first time visiting an ICU & the curiosity got the best of me. I just pray all those people recovered from whatever they were suffering from & were able to go back home.
Had the same thing happen with my FIL, only I asked why there were no beds and was told there were actually beds, but no one to take care of patients.
I work at a hospital. Before covid there was already this problem. It's because there aren't enough nurses. There are entire wings of our hospital closed from lack of nurses. That's the real reason.
In our case, it was definitely beds that were full. Mom was in ICU room 1 so we had to walk past all the other rooms (with glass doors) to get there. I guess we just got lucky that they had enough staff on hand. They were busy but patients seemed to be cared for.
It's sad though, what you/FIL experienced--beds available but nobody to care for people. I hope nothing else like this ever happens again in our lifetimes. Just visiting ICU was sad. Some rooms I'd walk by the patient would be like my mom...conscious, kinda sitting up, watching tv or finishing the cookie that came with lunch that day. Other rooms had unconscious patients with tubes & lines coming out of every conceivable orifice. I wanted to respect everyone's privacy--to not look--but it was my first time visiting an ICU & the curiosity got the best of me. I just pray all those people recovered from whatever they were suffering from & were able to go back home.