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
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
NEW Iconic Canadian song turns 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Prince Harry, Meghan arrive in Nigeria to champion the Invictus Games and meet with wounded soldiers
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, arrived in Nigeria on Friday to champion the Invictus Games, which he founded to aid the rehabilitation of wounded and sick servicemembers and veterans, among them Nigerian soldiers fighting a 14-year war against Islamic extremists.
Countries struggle to draft 'pandemic treaty' to avoid mistakes made during COVID
After the coronavirus pandemic triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions, leaders at the World Health Organization and worldwide vowed to do better in the future. Years later, countries are still struggling to come up with an agreed-upon plan for how the world might respond to the next global outbreak.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Storm-battered U.S. South is again under threat. A boy swept into a drain fights for his life
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the U.S. South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.