Hundreds of nurses from across B.C. took to the streets of Downtown Vancouver Wednesday (May 31) to hold the government accountable for minimum nurse-patient ratios.
In town for a B.C. Nurses Union conference, nurses marched from the Hyatt Regency Vancouver Hotel to Jack Poole Plaza, chanting that 91裸聊视频渟afe staffing saves lives.91裸聊视频�
BCNU president Aman Grewal said nurses are 91裸聊视频渏uggling dangerous workloads91裸聊视频� everyday, responsible for a large number of patients 91裸聊视频渁ll with diverse and acute needs.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淭he shortage has reached such dire levels that we regularly see temporary closures of emergency rooms in communities around B.C.91裸聊视频�
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In April, the Nurses91裸聊视频� Bargaining Association and the province reached an agreement to implement minimum nurse-patient ratios across health-care settings, which has the promise to improve the staffing and practice conditions needed to keep nurses in the profession and improve patient care.
Grewal said the nurse-patient ration prioritizes work-life balance, can lead to less burnout among nurses, fewer incidents of missed care, lower rates of patient mortality and waiting less time for medication.
91裸聊视频淚t can mean the difference between life and death.91裸聊视频�
It comes as doctors around B.C., and specifically at Surrey Memorial Hospital, have been calling out issues in emergency departments and hospitals for weeks.
Just this week, an open letter from more than 35 women91裸聊视频檚 health physicians and midwives expressed concern for 91裸聊视频渦nsafe conditions and adverse outcomes91裸聊视频� at Surrey Memorial 91裸聊视频� including accusations that these gaps led to a newborn death.
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Surrey Memorial nurse Peggy Holton said staff is exhausted and tired. That91裸聊视频檚 due to a lot of reasons, including a quickly growing population with the health-care infrastructure to support it.
She said people come into the emergency department 91裸聊视频� where she works sometimes 91裸聊视频� knowing they will at some point get to see a doctor or nurse.
91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 worth it for them for a 12-hour wait, versus waiting months in the community to get the same services.91裸聊视频�
A nurse for 42 years, Holton said her hardest experience previously was during the heat dome in 2021, but not anymore.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 even worse as far as the congestion that91裸聊视频檚 there and people are coming in sicker and sicker and that is daunting.91裸聊视频�
However, she said having physicians calling out these issues publicly is helping.
91裸聊视频淭hey have their own impact onto their own group, but then it also exemplifies what the nurses have been saying all along.91裸聊视频�
BCNU vice-president Adriane Gear said that it feels the province is on the cusp of going in the right direction, it doesn91裸聊视频檛 change the current reality.
91裸聊视频淚t doesn91裸聊视频檛 make the 18-hour shift any better for the nurse working at Surrey Memorial emergency department. It doesn91裸聊视频檛 make it better for each of the 10 patients one nurse is responsible for caring for at the Victoria General Hospital when they ought to have four,91裸聊视频� she said.
91裸聊视频滻t doesn91裸聊视频檛 make it better for the long-term care nurses who are responsible for all the residents in that facility on a nightly shift. And it doesn91裸聊视频檛 address the workloads and difficult decisions community nurses must make each day as to which of their clients will be seen and which ones will have to be deferred again and again.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频� With a file from Anna Burns
lauren.collins@blackpress.ca
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