Sop Cop General Hospital is located in a mountainous border province, in charge of providing healthcare service to people in eight communes. However, there is only one doctor who has a certificate for emergency resuscitation practice. The number of medical workers has remained unchanged for many years because the area cannot recruit new workers.

According to hospital director Doan Vu Hung, doctors in other localities refuse to come to Sop Cop, and local people do not go to medical school. Hung once thought of sending doctors to training courses on emergency resuscitation, but if he had, the hospital would have lacked workers to undertake the daily workload.

Workers in different wards of the hospital would have to work in the intensive care unit in rotation.

Vi Hong Ky, director of Moc Chau General Hospital, complained that his hospital also lacked doctors for the emergency ward. Moc Chau is a tourism site and the gateway to many localities in the northwest. The leadership of the hospital has decided to send doctors to training courses to become resuscitation doctors. 

At present, the hospital has one doctor in this field and expects to have one more later this year. In addition, the hospital has asked for help from central hospitals, which send staff to train workers on site.

Nguyen Dai Phong, director of the General Hospital of the Central Highlands, said the hospital needs to recruit more medical workers, but it is difficult because of the unreasonable pay scheme.

Even Bach Mai Hospital, the biggest hospital of the country, has lacked emergency resuscitation doctors for many years.

“The hospital cannot recruit anyone. Those who have been working here for many years have good experience, but they are too tired because of the pressure,” said Le Thi Hoang Diu, who has been working at the emergency resuscitation center for more than 20 years.

Diu said many holding a BSN (bachelor of science degree in nursing) once came to work, but they later changed their mind. Most of them decided to leave after one month, while others left just after several days.

“It takes 2-3 years for a nurse to practice and learn how to take care of one patient alone,” she said. “The work is hard, while the income is low, so the BSNs don’t want to take the job."

Reasons for shortage

Nguyen Gia Binh, former Head of Emergency Resuscitation Department of the Bach Mai Hospital, confirmed there is shortage of emergency resuscitation doctors.

According to Binh, there are only 700 doctors who have certificates of resuscitation practice in the country. In many districts, there is no doctor majoring in this field. 

During the Covid-19 period, because of the lack of resuscitation doctors, ophthalmologists, obstetricians and dermatologists were mobilized to treat Covid-19 patients.

Binh said after talking to students of medical schools, he realized that many students have shunned the speciality for many reasons.

First, the pressure. Resuscitation departments receive and treat serious cases, while resuscitation doctors have to have broad knowledge about many different fields, from metabolic diseases to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

In the US and other developed countries, one nurse serves one patient for eight hours. In Vietnam, nurses have to undertake a lot of jobs, including administrative procedures.

Second, the income is low. Doctors in the resuscitation ward have to face risks of occupational accidents.

Third, they cannot take extra jobs to get extra money. They are not allowed to work at private clinics.

Fourth, medical school students tend to choose more popular majors such as dermatology and cosmetology, which are believed to bring higher income and more job opportunities.

Phuong Thuy