"It felt like this was going to be a six-month stint, we're actually moving into our third year now." Sean Shaughnessy is a nurse based in Galway and told RTÉ that the healthcare system is facing into a difficult few months. "December, January, February, were always very challenging in terms of the effort required.
But throw Covid in there, along with elective work and emergency admissions. It is just a perfect storm." The stress of balancing risk with doing the job is playing on the minds and bodies of healthcare staff, according to the nurse. "It's like a post-traumatic stress in many respects because it's a slow wear on your mental and physical capabilities. "I've spoken to colleagues and I've seen almost like a blankness or deadness (in