I would like to see a change in thinking in society and in politics. We want to save the economy in the current situation. But if there is no one left to save the economy, then the economy is of no use to us. I have the impression that what really counts has been forgotten in Switzerland.

Registered nurse (26), Intensive care unit

The population should pay attention and comply with the measures. Because at the end of the day, we nurses are the ones who will reach the limit and if we reach the limit, people who need health care can no longer be cared for. Also, the view for the nursing profession should change. It's not like it used to be. We have a degree. We have an expertise and nurses do more than "just care" - much more. We don't do this work for ourselves, but for our fellow human beings. I would like to see a greater understanding of this.

Nurse (34), COVID-specific intensive care unit

I wonder what it is that keeps so many nurses in this profession for years with these working conditions - what keeps us?

Registered nurse (53), Intensive care unit

Clapping alone doesn't help. We need financial support: more pay and better working conditions! We should also not forget that we are currently in an exceptional situation and using untrained staff in the hospital only helps to a limited extent. In order to be able to absorb the current burdens, we need qualified nursing staff. The Federal Council is investing billions in companies; it could also simply invest a few billion in the healthcare system now, so that we can absorb the current situation well.

Nurse (32), Anesthesia

I would like to see more appreciation for our profession, not only in the current pandemic. Our profession is demanding and stressful. It was also before Corona. That's why it would be important for working conditions to improve fundamentally in our profession, so that young nursing staff also stays in the profession. In the future, we will notice more and more that we have too few trained nursing professionals. Unfortunately, attention that we are getting right now will probably level off very quickly, and so our working conditions will not improve sustainably.

Registered nurse (49), Intensive care unit

Not only ICU staff, but nurses from all areas, including nursing homes, private nursing services, wards, are under much higher stress due to the corona pandemic, which makes nursing work much more difficult - for all nurses.

Nurse (51), Emergency ward

The current issue is not to discuss where this virus comes from, whether it is a conspiracy and so on. It is a fact that this virus is here and people are dying from it. The people who die from it die because the lungs fail. It's not a pretty death. You can't imagine that, but you can still imagine that it must be very agonizing. So we should do everything we can to contain this virus, each and every one of us.

Nurse (30), Surgery

I would like to see people reflecting more on their core values again at this time. Whether the ski resorts close now or whether you can still go shopping on Sunday or not - that's not really important right now. On the other hand, being healthy and having a social network is relevant, and that's what people should be thinking about more at the moment.

Registered nurse (31), Intensive care unit

All people who question the measures are welcome to come by for a day and see how things are done here. What bothers me most is that some people think twice about whether they want to wear the mask or not, while we care for seriously ill people who are on the ventilator. It would make our daily lives easier if everyone would just consistently adhere to mask wearing, then we could fight this pandemic much faster.

Nursing specialist (26), Surgery

We nurses have always done so much - even before Corona. But no one noticed. And now, all of a sudden, we're getting applause. We've been fighting for better working conditions for a long time, but nothing happens.

Nurse (21), Surgery

There should be much more appreciation for our profession. Not only appreciation in the sense of "Thank you for doing this job", but also more financial support. We have been fighting for years with nursing initiatives, with the professional association, that we are heard and that our profession gets a higher status in the public.

Nursing specialist (23 years), Medicine

I would like to bring the bad state of affairs that prevail in the hospital to the outside world in order to show the consequences of the staff shortage in nursing. It is important to me to create awareness among people that their relatives, their own mother, father, husband or wife, can also suddenly fall ill and be affected by the consequences of the staff shortage. That's why I wish we would raise our voices and nursing work would be more appreciated.

Nursing specialist (29), Intensive care unit

I would like to see more understanding from the public that we are working for better working conditions. Comments like "Just do your job, I mean this is your profession, you chose it and you are lucky to have it" are disrespectful towards our profession and I think that people who make such statements have no idea what we do every day.

Registered nurse (32), Intensive care unit

Stay at home! That's what I would like to tell everyone. Don't go skiing, don't go to a big family reunion, just stay home. Because we caregivers don't want any more, we're really at our wits' end!

Nursing specialist (39), Intensive care unit

I would like people to come to the emergency department and see what our everyday life in the emergency department is like at the moment. Many people still think that we are simply the doctor's assistants. But most people still don't see the responsibility we have in our profession.

Registered nurse (31), Emergency ward

Individuality in patient care suffers massively because of the measures that we now have to adhere to in our work due to COVID-19. The distance between patient and nursing staff is increased by the compliance with the protective measures, which negatively affects the quality of nursing work. We should not forget this during the pandemic and try to make sure that individual patient care is not lost.

Nurse (45), Emergency ward

Every person should think about what they want and how far one should go with medical measures to save their life. Death and dying are still taboo subjects. This should change. Dying is part of life and therefore one should talk about it more openly and also express one's will clearly to one's relatives so that they can act in their interests if one is no longer able to do so oneself.

Registered nurse (28), Intensive care unit

Politicians have too little confidence in the nursing profession. Politicians and ultimately the Swiss population should have more confidence in us nurses.

Nursing specialist (22), Emergency ward

The most important thing is to make sure that well-trained and highly qualified nurses do not leave the profession. In principle this profession is so beautiful, but our working conditions leads to things becoming aggravating and exhausting and leads to the fact that many qualified nursing professionals no longer want to practice the profession, because they can no longer do the job in a way they would like to do.

Nurse (29), Pediatrics