Nursing crunch causing cancelled heart surgeries in St. John's: union

Seventeen cardiac surgeries in St. John's were cancelled in January because there were not enough nurses to work on them, a union official said Monday.

Debbie Forward, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union, said 73 of 175 cancelled cardiac surgeries at the Health Sciences Centre in 2008 were due to nursing shortages alone.

"These numbers are devastating," Forward said in a statement.

"More than one-quarter of cardiac surgeries scheduled for January alone were cancelled due to a lack of registered nurses to provide followup care.… Patients who require [operating room] services in the region deserve to receive those services in a timely manner, not have them cancelled and rescheduled."

The NLNU released the statistics as the union continues a provincewide strike vote. The union has been locked in a conflict with the Newfoundland and Labrador government and its regional health authorities for months over pay raises and benefits.

But in a subsequent interview with CBC News, Forward denied that the release of the data, which was attributed to Eastern Health, was tied to pressure tactics and the strike vote.

"We've been highlighting this now for a long time. No one can say to us that we're just starting this because we're in the middle of a strike vote," said Forward, adding that she has spoken out frequently about nursing shortages and patient care.

"Someone has to speak up for the patients. Who is speaking for the patients here? [As] nurses, we think that's our responsibility, to be patient advocates."

Forward said the health boards should improve recruitment and retention issues broadly, "so all units can meet the needs of their patients, instead of robbing Peter to pay Paul."

The union has refused to reopen talks with the government and regional authorities until a strike vote is completed later this month.

If approved, the union could be in a legal strike position as early as April.