Nursing shortage hits St. John's ER hard
Staff shortages forced the largest hospital in Newfoundland and Labrador to close one of its emergency units this weekend, and a nurses union official says the situation is becoming critical.
The Health Sciences Centre in St. John's closed one of three emergency units on Saturday night. Patients were diverted to another city hospital.
Nursing shortages have been pronounced this summer at hospitals across the province, with some institutions cancelling or strictly limiting vacation times.
Debbie Forward, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union, says it is only a matter of time before patient care is affected.
"It's my understanding it was the worst night they've had at [that] emergency room for several years," Forward said Tuesday.
"They have to do more with less staff.… It's just a disaster waiting to happen," she said.
The emergency room's normal complement is nine nurses. Only six nurses could be found to work that night.
Nurses in Clarenville protested this spring when they were told they could take no more than two weeks vacation this summer. One nurse in Botwood quit her job to attend a family vacation in April.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government has tried several tactics to improve nursing staffing, including converting scores of temporary jobs to permanent status.
However, nurses say the measures have not had a significant effect on the shortages.
Health Minister Ross Wiseman said signing bonuses are helping to attract new recruits.
"We have some vacancies right now but I think that each of our health authorities have had some real good success recruiting the new graduates who came out of nursing schools this year," he said.
Officials with Eastern Health say summer shortages are nothing new. Forward agrees with that, but insists that still does not make shortages acceptable.
"We can't continue to put nurses through this," she said.
She said nurses around the province are working to their limits. In one community, she said, a nurse worked 24 hours straight because no one could be found to replace her.
"These situations are not acceptable. If they happen once, it's one time too many."
The nurses union is preparing to begin bargaining aimed at negotiating a new contract. The current contract expires in a year.
Pay rates in Newfoundland and Labrador are among the lowest in the country. Nurses last year voted to accept a deal that included minor pay increases. Forward said a better contract would go a long way to solving chronic shortages.