PrintUNA Local sees PRC success at Sturgeon Community Hospital
United Nurses of Alberta Local 85 at the Sturgeon General Hospital in St. Albert reports improved Emergency Room staffing after ER nurses led more than 75 Professional Responsibility Concerns over an 18-month period.
Local officers reported working hard at the PRC committee and presenting to the President and Chief Executive Officer of Alberta Health Services twice about understaffing in the department. As a result, early last year, the PRCs finally resulted in resolution to the staffing concerns that was acceptable to the Local.
As a result, the ER received an additional 4.42 Registered Nurse Full-Time Equivalent in addition to making permanent an additional 1.4 RN FTE, 2.0 Licensed Practical Nurse FTE and added unit clerks that had been achieved on a temporary basis for six months the previous year.
Staff in the department continue to face challenges, but the extra staff has been instrumental in reducing concerns about patient safety among ER staff at the hospital. They call the total of 5.82 permanent RN FTE, 2.0 LPN FTE and added unit clerks a meaningful success.
