BC currently has 5,000 nursing vacancies to fill and that number could get larger if working conditions don’t improve according to the provincial nurses union.
A rally was held in Vancouver yesterday (Thursday) where nurses from across the province are demanding change to address the health and safety risks they face on the job.
BC Nurses Union President, Adriane Gear told Vista Radio the new nurse-to-patient ratios that are scheduled to be implemented will only work if they have enough bodies to go around.
“We are losing nurses that are nearing retirement but if the conditions of work were better they would stay another two, three or, five years. We also have new grads after completion of a four-year Bachelor of Science Nursing program, working for a short time and later saying this is not what I signed up for.”
“We know that this is the employer’s responsibility. It is to keep nurses safe at work and that is the responsibility of every employer to keep their workers safe regardless of the sector. According to our members, conditions are getting considerably worse we have been hearing stories of not taking action when nurses are bringing forward concerns.”
Gear added the undermanned staffing levels seen across BC hospitals are the worst they have ever been.
“The staffing shortages that are experienced now are unprecedented. I have been a nurse for 30 years and I have never seen things like this. We know through Statistics Canada, we have 5,000 nursing vacancies.”
“On one hand we have something really great to celebrate and that is we have negotiated and we are starting to move towards the implementation of minimum nurse-patient ratios but we can’t do that without nurses. We can recruit nurses but we aren’t keeping them, they are leaving the profession.”
In a recent poll, 94% of respondents within Northern Health stated they work short-staffed while 50% have been exposed to weapons while over half said they have experienced violence.
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