Nurses say they need help and they need it now. The Registered Nurses Union says 90 percent of its members are experiencing burnout and 16 percent are considering leaving the profession altogether. President Yvette Coffey says it’s a system built on overtime, but it’s not going to last.
The latest COVID numbers show 40 hospitalizations with 11 in critical care, but Coffey cautions that that’s not the true picture. She notes that the hospitalizations include only those admitted with COVID, not those who contract the virus while in hospital.
Public Health hasn’t, at least not on a consistent basis, identified facilities where outbreaks have occurred, however Coffey says nurses are telling them that outbreaks are widespread not only in long-term care but acute care as well.
She says we have outbreaks in the Gander hospital, in long-term care facilities in Central, in long-term care at Western Health, and in Western Memorial Hospital, St. Clare’s Hospital, and the Health Sciences. They’re also hearing about outbreaks in Carbonear, Placentia and Burin. Coffey says we don’t have enough nurses to care for these people.
