Moldova anaesthetist crisis: Doctors warn of burnout and critical staff shortage
Moldova is facing a critical shortage of anaesthetists, specialists who play a vital role in saving lives and provide constant care for critically ill patients in intensive care units.
Due to long shifts and the immense responsibility they bear, anaesthetists are highly susceptible to burnout. The Moldova 1 TV team has gathered testimonies from doctors who are coping with these difficulties, knowing that patients place all their hope in their hands.
Ala Băluțel has been working for almost 30 years at the Emergency Medicine Institute, where seriously ill patients arrive, sometimes directly in the operating theatres. Like her colleagues, she works in shifts.
"Night shifts are also complicated; our workload has expanded to include more operating rooms, so there is more work. It requires a prompt reaction to any critical situation. I manage to maintain composure even when the patient has a complication," said Ms Băluțel.
"There are decisive moments where you must not lose your composure; you need to remain balanced and make rapid decisions. Experience speaks for itself, but having to make rapid and concrete decisions makes us vulnerable. Surgeries can last from one hour up to seven; there have also been 12-hour neurosurgical and spinal operations," confessed anaesthetist Victoria Gafton.
The Emergency Medicine Institute performs complicated and numerous surgical interventions. The Institute performs between 60 and 70 planned operations and up to 30 emergency operations daily, requiring 100 anaesthetic procedures. Sergiu Cobîlețchi, Head of the Anaesthesia Department, stated that practically the entire perioperative care is covered by the anaesthetist-resuscitator service.
Andrei Neburac, who leads the Intensive Care Unit at the "Holy Trinity" Municipal Clinical Hospital, affirms that anaesthetists are predisposed to burnout due to their responsibility. "Working at the patient's bedside, you see and feel the patient, constantly monitoring all their vital functions. Considering the shortage of medical staff, the burnout syndrome is high," he emphasised.
The country has 672 active anaesthetists and 107 vacant positions, according to data from the Ministry of Health. This deficit, although more pronounced in rural areas, affects the entire healthcare system.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
