Swine flu stresses nursing staff at Winnipeg hospitals

The swine flu pandemic is taxing the nursing staff at some Winnipeg hospitals, which are scaling back vacation time and retraining members for intensive care unit work.

The head of the Manitoba Nurses Union, Sandi Mowatt, said it's been a particularly stressful time for nurses at St. Boniface hospital, where most of the flu cases are being treated.

"They have a strain on their ICU bed situation and required some more nursing help with that. So they have seconded nurses in their own hospital who have previous intensive care experience to work in their ICU," she said.

'They have seconded nurses in their own hospital who have previous intensive care experience to work in their ICU during this period of time.' — Sandi Mowatt, Manitoba Nurses Union

Mowatt said nurses who haven' t worked in ICU for a while will be receive training before they care for patients.

"It's certainly disconcerting for the nurses who haven't worked in ICU for a little bit to come and work in an area that they may not be familiar with at this time, but having said that, nurses are the consummate professionals," she said.

The strain at St. Boniface has been heightened by an increased demand for care at Victoria Hospital. Consequently, a number of St. Boniface nurses have had to be posted at Victoria to help with the workload, Mowatt said.

Vacations on hold

With nursing resources stretched thin across the city, the union has put a hold on some vacation requests. Nurses are being closely monitored to ensure they are receiving enough down time, however, said Mowatt.

The Winnipeg health region may also look at moving some patients to another health region, such as Brandon, to ease the pressures, she said.

Manitoba confirmed another 33 cases of swine flu, or H1N1 influenza A virus, on Monday. The provincial total is now 152.

Dr. Joel Kettner, Manitoba's chief medical officer of health, is urging people to stay home from work for a full week if they feel they have even a mild case of the flu. That would help limit the spread of the virus, he said.

"It's not like you're struggling for five or six days with the flu and it's just not getting better. We're talking about people who become very ill, very quickly within the first 24 or 48 hours."

Ottawa's flu support on reserves shameful, says MP

Manitoba New Democrat MP Niki Ashton, who represents the Churchill riding, toured remote communities in the province's north this week, where H1N1 has hit hard.

She told CBC News that people in those First Nations communities are scared, and she blamed Ottawa for ill-preparing First Nations to deal with the outbreak.

'Over and over again, what people are telling me is, 'We know it's gonna come back worse in the fall, we're scared.' — Niki Ashton, New Democrat MP

"I've seen the [health guidelines] binder that they sent to leadership in these communities and it's a binder that has all these great ideas, but there's no resources to back it up. There's no human resources that have been offered," Ashton said, calling the level of support shameful.

"There have been very appreciative comments made [by residents and community leaders] of medical professionals that have come to respond to the urgent call for help. But [they] need a lot more than that."

Ashton wants the federal government to set up field hospitals in northern communities, which is an idea that has been raised over the past couple of weeks by First Nations leaders.

Ashton said many residents have expressed fear about the H1N1 when the fall flu season hits.

"Over and over again, what people are telling me is, 'We know it's gonna come back worse in the fall, we're scared.'"

David Harper, chief of Garden Hill First Nation, travelled to Winnipeg to gather medical supplies to stockpile.

In the past month, 38 people have been airlifted out of that community of 4,000 residents, located about 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg. Four cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Garden Hill residents.

"I know the worst is yet to come. I mean, between now and the next flu season, we gotta keep preparing," said Harper. "When you come from a remote community where there's no doctor, no hospitals, you don't take those chances."