Alberta nurses exhausted and demoralized as staffing shortages force bed closures, union says
Staffing shortages are leading to bed closures at several Alberta health care facilities and nurses are being forced to take on extra shifts and overtime to try and fill the gaps, the union says.
"One of the sites last week indicated nurses were working 14 consecutive 12-hour shifts. The most you can schedule in a normal time would be four consecutive 12-hours shifts," said Heather Smith with the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA).
"So that's an indication just how pressed and exhausted nurses, and I would suggest other healthcare workers, are."
Service reductions due to staffing issues have now hit both rural and urban facilities, the union says.
Last week, 12 beds were closed at Lacombe's only hospital and the Royal Alexandra in Edmonton lost six beds in its emergency room department this month.
Smith says staffing is the biggest concern nurses are facing as vacancies increase with workers taking vacation or stress leave or retiring.
“We knew coming out of Stage 3 and coming into the easing of restrictions, we’re still going to have pressures with staffing throughout the province this summer,” Tyler Shandro, Alberta's health minister, said to media on Monday.
Shandro added that, even with bed closures, the hospitals and facilities affected are not at capacity and are still able to serve anyone who needs help.
"If the minister expected it, you would think he would've done something about it," said NDP health critic David Shepherd.
"Instead, he is simply leaving it to the front lines to once again to have to deal with the results of his inaction, his unwillingness to take steps to deal with the problem."
“We’ve never seen anything like this, where there are consistently six beds closed 24/7 for an entire summer,” Shazma Mithani, an emergency doctor at the Royal Alexander and the Stollery Children’s Hospital, said.
This all comes as Alberta nurses face a three percent wage reduction from its employers as the province moves through contract negotiations.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.