'Ready to quit': B.C. nurses, doctors exhausted as COVID-19 hospitalizations expected to peak
While the most challenging days of COVID-19 are predicted to be ahead for British Columbia's health-care system, representatives for doctors and nurses say their members are on the verge of a possible collapse.
Doctors of BC president Dr. Ramneek Dosanjh said it has been an overwhelming three years for her members.
“I am hearing from some doctors who are just ready to quit,” she said in an interview.
The organization represents 16,000 physicians in the province.
“People have shared their honest feelings with me and they're feeling so consumed. They're emotionally exhausted. They're feeling depleted,” she said.
“They're seeing their patients suffer. They're also under such constraints.”
Aman Grewal, president of the BC Nurses Union, said nurses are under “incredible pressure” to balance family and work responsibilities, which doesn't leave them with enough downtime to take care of themselves.
“They are facing verbal and physical harassment from some members of the public who are becoming increasingly frustrated with this ongoing public health crisis,” she said. The organization represents 48,000 nurses.
“This, you know, has been an ongoing issue - violence toward nurses and it's very morally distressing to know that our members are having to face that all while they are trying to care for their patients.”
On Friday, provincial health care officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the latest wave fuelled by the Omicron variant may have peaked in parts of B.C., but there's a lag between infections and those who end up in hospital. That means difficult days are ahead for hospitals and their staff, Henry said.
Health officials said there were 819 COVID-positive cases in B.C. hospitals Monday, compared with 646 on Friday.
Henry issued an order Monday extending restrictions imposed last month on gatherings and closures of fitness centres and bars.
Her order said she took into account “the stress under which the public health and health-care systems are currently operating, and the impact this is having on the provision of health care to the population,” due to the rising presence of the Omicron variant.
The representatives said health-care workers are also facing a shortage of personal protective equipment, including masks.
Dosanjh said doctors need more support on the ground, like more family physicians who can share the burden, less paperwork and better infrastructure support such as universal health records so that the same tests are not repeated.
“A lot of people are seeing patients from 8 a.m. till 8 at night and then doing the paperwork. The days are usually very long for most physicians.”
BC Emergency Health Services said the number of staff absences last year on Jan. 4 was 38, Jan. 5 was 39, Jan. 6 and 7 was 33, Jan. 8 was 36 and Jan. 9 was 32. This year on Jan. 4 it was 69, Jan. 5 was 52, Jan. 6 was 70, Jan. 7 was 49, Jan. 8 was 53 and Jan. 9 was 41.
The emergency health services, which employs 4,000 paramedics and dispatchers in B.C., said there were 33 people off sick on Jan. 6 last year, while 70 people were ill this year.
Vancouver Coastal Health said in a statement its hospitals mirror what's happening in the communities, which means they are still seeing COVID-19 cases.
Fraser Health said all emergency departments are fully operational, and while they are seeing an increased number of sick calls due to COVID-19, operational teams have a plan in place to mitigate against impact on staff and access to care.
No staff who have knowingly tested positive for COVID-19 have been called into work, said a statement from the health authority.
Between Jan. 3 and 9, there were 7,151 shifts at Fraser Health for which workers called in sick due to short-term illness.
Grewal said there are not enough resources to help nurses deal with their own mental well-being amid the increasing fatigue, anxiety and relentless slog starting to take its toll.
A nurse working four shifts in a row might have seen one death before the pandemic, she said.
“And here these nurses are seeing several deaths and several deaths of patients who are their age. They're not elderly who are always the ones who are dying,” she said.
“You know, our nurses are humans as well.”
It is important for everyone to pay attention to this burnout, Dosanjh said because if more health-care workers are lost to it then patients suffer.
Her father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May 2020 and died last April.
“He was alone and then had to undergo his chemotherapy alone. And then he had surgery alone and was in the hospital alone,” she said.
“There's so many factors that affect our burnout.”
Health care is a calling where doctors and nurses are seen as invincible and stoic figures, Dosanjh said.
“We have feelings. We're real people. We share our patients' pain, we really do,” she said. “The world needs to recognize that we're humans, you know.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 18, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Police inaction allowed Texas massacre to continue with catastrophic consequences: experts
The decision by police to wait before confronting the gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde was a failure with catastrophic consequences, experts say. When it was all over 19 students and two teachers were dead.

Indigenous B.C. filmmaker says he was refused entry on Cannes red carpet for his moccasins
A Dene filmmaker based in Vancouver says he was "disappointed" and "close to tears" when security at the Cannes Film Festival blocked him from walking the red carpet while dressed in a pair of moccasins.
'Absurd' to criticize feds for possible challenge of provincial laws, says Lametti
Justice Minister David Lametti is defending the federal government's authority to challenge provincial laws that they believe infringe on the rights of Canadians, after Quebec said Ottawa's reaction to Bills 21 and 96 lacked 'respect.'
Putin warns against continued arming of Ukraine; Kremlin claims another city captured
As Russia asserted progress in its goal of seizing the entirety of contested eastern Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin tried Saturday to shake European resolve to punish his country with sanctions and to keep supplying weapons that have supported Ukraine's defence.
'What happened to Chelsea?' Vancouver march demands answers in Indigenous woman's death
Around a hundred people gathered at noon Saturday at the empty Vancouver home where Chelsea Poorman’s remains were found late last month to show their support for her family's call for answers and justice.
Canada to play for gold at men's hockey worlds after victory over Czechia
Canada and Finland won semifinal games Saturday to set up a third straight gold-medal showdown between the teams at the IIHF world hockey championship.
Tear gas fired at Liverpool fans in Champions League final policing chaos
Riot police fired tear gas and pepper spray at Liverpool supporters forced to endure lengthy waits to get into the Champions League final amid logistical chaos and an attempt by UEFA and French authorities to blame overcrowding at turnstiles on people trying to access the stadium with fake tickets on Saturday.
48K without power one week after deadly storm swept through Ontario, Quebec
One week after a severe wind and thunderstorm swept through Ontario and Quebec, just over 48,000 homes in the two provinces were still without power on Saturday.
Explainer: Where do hydro poles come from?
The devastating storm in southern Ontario and Quebec last weekend damaged thousands of hydro poles across the two provinces. CTVNews.ca gives a rundown of where utility companies get their hydro poles from, as well as the climate challenges in the grid infrastructure.