Nurses rally to highlight 'crisis' in B.C. health-care system
Hundreds of nurses took to the streets of downtown Vancouver Wednesday to call attention to what they say is a health-care system in crisis thanks, in part, to understaffing, emergency room closures and long wait times for patients to get the care they need.
“We’re always short-staffed," said Marcela Bonilla, who works as a community care nurse on the Downtown Eastside.
"There’s not enough people to help deliver safe care or proper care, or have the time to properly interact with the patient."
The march came as nurses gathered this week at the Vancouver Convention Centre to elect a bargaining committee and identify key priorities as they prepare to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.
“Nurses deserve better,” said BC Nurses Union president Aman Grewal.
"Our patients in B.C. deserve better. The health-care system is in crisis and they need to listen to the nurses."
Unionized nurses have been working without a contract since March and are preparing for what could be a tense negotiaton process.
Recent nursing grads, like acute medicine RNs Anjali Sharma and Sara Van Buekenhout, have stepped into a system so desperate for their services it risks burning them out already with poor working conditions.
“They’re not great,” said Sharma. “We’re short-staffed almost everyday. We’re forced to care for six or seven patients sometimes.”
She says the standard in acute care is one to four patients per nurse.
“It’s almost a year since the federal government committed to me that we would be working together on addressing these issues,” Premier John Horgan said when asked about what the province could do to improve working conditions for nurses, and the health-care system in general.
“The federal government needs to be at the table. We need to have a national plan.”
But when formal negotiations get underway with the BCNU, the feds won’t be at the table and it will be up to the province to come up with ideas and solutions – and ways to pay for them – if it wants to avoid job action on the part of nurses.
“I do know Minister Dix has been working tirelessly, we’re creating more spaces for RNs, we’re bringing in more care aides, a range of other hires and improvements in recognizing foreign credentials,” Horgan said.
For young nurses like Sharma and Van Buekenhout, it’s vital the province find a way to do more – and faster.
“Otherwise, I think a lot of nurses are going to leave the profession,” said Van Buekenhout.
And that would exacerbate problems for a health-care system that already appears to be in critical condition.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
RCMP uncovers alleged plot by 2 Montreal men to illegally sell drones, equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
Government agrees to US$138.7M settlement over FBI's botching of Larry Nassar assault allegations
The U.S. Justice Department announced a US$138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Man wanted in connection with deadly shooting in Toronto tops list of most wanted fugitives in Canada
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
Doctors ask Liberal government to reconsider capital gains tax change
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.