By Cheryl Jahn

UHNBC Nurses Stressed

Sep 28, 2018 | 11:37 AM

PRINCE GEORGE – The University Hospital of Northern BC is a pressure cooker these days. Staffing levels are significantly down and the hospital is over capacity. But, the issue of staffing is not new to the BC Nurses Union. 

“The Auditor General identified significant staffing issues for the Northern Health Authority as early as January or February of this year, when they released the report,” says BCNU President, Christine Sorensen “In that, they said there were difficulties in staffing a number of the facilities to the appropriate level that would be able to provide patient care.”

In that report released in February, Auditor General Carol Bellringer wrote:

“As of April 1, 2017, Northern Health was short 121 RN FTEs, approximately 15% of its rural and remote RN workforce and at least 5.9 NP FTEs. It was able to fill approximately half of its vacant shifts with nurses who work on a casual basis and existing nursing staff, sometimes at an overtime rate.”
 “RNs were also concerned about patient safety, as they were not always able to check on patients in the waiting room or keep up with regular checks on medication, crash carts and other equipment.”

It means nurses are under tremendous amount of strain.

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“Nurses are suffering an enormous amount of moral distress,” says Sorensen. “They’re also getting really tired. You know, we have a number of nurses who have been working extreme numbers of overtime shifts to fill in when their colleagues are either ill or not available or they’re short staffed or when [the hospital] has this additional staffing need. So, my concern is that nurses are burning out while they’re trying to provide the care that patients need.”   

Northern Health is acutely aware of the recruitment and retention issues.

“We have been and continue to meet with the BC Nurses Union to talk about concerns such as this,” says Eryn Collins, Northern Health Communications. “In fact, there have been meetings this week between Northern Health leadership and BCNU representatives to talk about these topics and potential solutions. We know that nurses are providing some excellent care and under some challenging circumstances, so we want to recognize and acknowledge that.” 

Not only are there issues around staffing in an over-capacity hospital, but there’s also a third factor, something the BCNU calls the “surge” factor. 

“And that’s a patient surge related to illness or events that occur in the community,” explains Sorensen. “Certainly we hear a lot about flu. Staffing is not just to the nursing staffing, we also have to look at the other members of our healthcare team, who are great supports to the nurses.” 

Again, it’s something Northern Health is aware of. 

“We know that seasonal pressures, primarily around influenza season and other viruses circulating, can put pressures on our acute care facilities,” says Collins. “That’s why encourage people to get their flu shot, wash their hands, practice good cough and sneeze etiquette and really reserve the hospital for the urgent care needs and relying on community health services, where appropriate, for their less urgent care needs.”