B.C. nurse optimistic heading into 2023 despite health-care system challenges

B.C. nurse Kamille Ali is optimistic heading into 2023 despite the challenges facing her profession and the province's health-care system.

She’s been working in Surrey as a nurse for 10 years. While she’s felt the pressures of staffing and other systemic challenges, she says the difference she makes in her patients' lives continues to fuel her passion.

“I know that things have been really hard in the pandemic but the one thing that’s remained consistent is they 'why' and why we get up every morning and go to our shifts,” she says

“I get to meet my patients and form a bond with their family and loved ones and be able to advocate for things they need or may not have readily accessible.”

For Ali, the work itself is rewarding despite challenging conditions. That's something she wants to highlight as she looks back on the last year and looks forward to the next.

"I just want to remind everyone that's in this profession, that you see and hear a lot of negative things, but it doesn't necessarily paint the same picture as what you're doing on a day-to-day basis,” she says.

“We’re making a difference, we're all in this together."

She’s seen colleagues leave throughout the pandemic for various reasons including burnout. Going in to 2023 she hopes that doesn’t deter the future generation of health-care workers.

“I hope that there’s more of a push for the next generation of nurses to go to nursing school and come in to the field and feel supported.