Yukon rural nurse shortage will be election issue, union says

The head of the union that represents Yukon public employees says the shortage of community nurses demands immediate attention, and should become a ballot box issue this fall.

Steve Geick, president of the Yukon Employees' Union, says right now nurses are being brought in from outside of the territory and posted to the communities, where often there's no relief for weeks on end.

He says last summer, one community nurse worked 52 days in a row.

Geick is concerned about overwork and fatigue, but also about security, when nurses don't have support.

"People should not have to work alone," Geick said. "It's not good for patients, it's not good for the nurses."

"If they're working alone all the time, in some communities, there's no RCMP, there's nobody there for backup. If you have to wait an hour and a half for someone to show up to help you, it's too late. It's far too late."

​Geick also says a lack of mental health and addictions care in the communities means the community nurse is often the front-line worker who must cope with patients who are potentially violent.

High turnover among nurses also means rural patients don't always receive consistent care, he said.

Geick says it's time for officials to take concrete action. 

"Stop doing the studies, and start doing what the studies are telling you needs to be done. If you want a good health care system, it's going to cost you."

Geick says the union will make this an issue in the territorial election, and will study all the parties' platforms on health care.