The Registered Nurses Union and the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions want to see greater nurse-to-patient ratios in response to what they say are rising rates of violence in hospitals.
There has been a notable security presence in metro area emergency rooms in recent months, and similar security measures have been added in the Labrador-Grenfell zone.
Even with the added security measures, RNU President Yvette Coffey says violent incidents persist, despite the fact that the concern has been in the fore for more than a decade.
(RNU President Yvette Coffey)
“In 2019, we brought together everyone for a forum on violence, (and) that report still sits on the desk of someone in government collecting dust,” Coffey told the Tim Powers Show.
Coffey says violence and staffing are affecting recruitment and retention.
“Retention is the biggest aspect, even we’re hearing recruitment because we’re hearing student nurses. They’re going in to do their clinicals, and we’ve had some quit after being exposed, or (having) seen the violence and the disrespect shown towards staff, and overall, the working conditions.” -Yvette Coffey
PC Health Critic Barry Petten (VOCM News)
Meanwhile, Opposition health critic Barry Petten is accusing the provincial government of not listening to the RNU on the state of nursing in the province.
Petten says anyone who has visited an emergency room knows how nurses are stretched thin, and how they’re facing violence and burnout.
Petten references a recent CBC report which indicates that eleven registered nurses recently left a surgical unit at St. Clare’s because of working conditions, only to be replaced by private agency nurses.
Petten wants to know how many more nurses will retire or resign before the provincial government takes action.
