A nursing assistant in nursing home (illustrative image).

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STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP

The Covid-19 epidemic is disrupting the precise organization of retirement homes.

The main union of private establishments alerted on Wednesday to the "major" difficulties experienced by establishments in recruiting nursing assistants, in order to replace employees who tested positive.

“We have major tensions over the workforce.

We work region by region with the Pôles Emploi, we say “join us!”, But it's not easy, ”explained Florence Arnaiz-Maumé, the general delegate of Synerpa, during a press briefing.

The problem arises in a more acute way in certain regions, for example in Occitania, "where it is catastrophic", according to her.

Exhausted teams

During confinement, the establishments had been able to occasionally call on the "health reserve", constituted by caregivers usually working in other sectors, but this solution is hardly available any more, pointed out Florence Arnaiz-Maumé.

In addition, the first wave of the epidemic has exhausted the staff, some of whom "are on sick leave" or "are demobilizing, wanting to change their lives and resign".

Above all, many establishments have to deal with temporary understaffing when professionals, even asymptomatic, test positive for Covid-19 and must therefore be placed in isolation.

"When we test all residents and all staff, sometimes five, six or seven employees must leave their post immediately and do not return to their post until seven days later," said Florence Arnaiz-Maumé.

Many caregivers - who take care of the toilet or help with meals for the elderly - have the experience that would allow them to become caregivers, but they must undergo a two-year training course, including for learning "skills in the hospital that are not useful to our sector," she explained.

Faced with these recruitment difficulties, "we do not have a magic wand," lamented the general delegate of Synerpa.

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