Česky
It took us about two weeks to find Mrs. Vacovska to conduct this interview: sometimes she was working nights, sometimes she was busy due to the increased number of births. We already suspected that these were excuses or an act of excessive modesty. But when you sit and talk with her, you quickly understand that Sister Marie is no poseur and is not playing at anything. The forty years she has been at the hospital cannot be described as anything other than forty years of honest toil and responsible work.
"I joined the hospital in July 1974. I was nineteen and it was right after I graduated from the Secondary Medical School in Pribram," says the native of Hořovice. "Whereas then we didn't have thirty births in a month, now we have them in a week," says Marie Vacovská, comparing the neonatal ward "then and now". She recalls that the Hořovice maternity hospital was among the first to introduce a new system in 1979, where mothers stayed in the same room with their newborns after giving birth. "Some might think that this would make us less busy, but the opposite is true: We had to teach mothers how to handle their babies. And that involves a lot more work, especially nowadays, when mothers come to us with a specific idea of how their birth will be because that's what they read on the internet. But not every birth goes according to the internet description," says Nurse Vacovská. However, according to her, even today younger women are grateful for any help and advice. "It makes us happy when mothers thank us when they leave the hospital and are happy on our ward."
When we ask her what message she would give to her younger colleagues, after a short reflection she says: "To be patient. Working in a maternity ward is a mission you have to want to do. And one more thing: It would be good if nurses who already have children served here. Then they will have a completely different perception of the environment in the maternity ward, having experienced first-hand what it is like to be there," says a children's nurse who has two grown-up daughters.
Ms Vacovská is very pleased with the changes that have taken place in the hospital and in the neonatal unit in recent years. "We work in a beautiful environment and have modern equipment. It also makes me feel good to boast that I work in the biggest and best maternity hospital in the region. However, there is a flip side to this coin - and that is the high number of deliveries, which puts a lot of workload on the nurse on duty. I like the direction our hospital is taking. However, I will also appreciate it if, in addition to renovations and investments in equipment, the hospital management will also pay attention to the people who work there," says Marie Vacovská openly.
