The President of the Registered Nurses’ Union says it is “deplorable working conditions” that are causing problems in the province’s emergency rooms, not workers making decisions to better their work-life balance.

Yvette Coffey was responding to comments last week by Eastern Health Interim CEO Ken Baird, who suggested that such staff choices is a new and unexpected phenomenon.

Coffey says that is simply not true, and that it’s the working conditions that are forcing staff to choose to leave full-time positions or reduce their hours.

It’s her understanding that Baird has sent out a corporate-wide email apologizing for his comments and saying they were taken out of context. She had a phone conversation with him on Saturday and he has agreed to meet with ER staff to explain his comments. However, Coffey says it is not much to ask to be fully staffed, have beds available for patients, and for workers to be able to take a break.

She says there is a nursing shortage, and the effects of it are everywhere. She says concerns have been raised about the problem for over a decade.