May 8, 2007 CFNU Convention in St. John's
Newfoundland Premier tells CFNU conditions must be addressed
“Nurses feel underpaid and undervalued and in this province – it’ll be different next time around,” Danny Williams, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier told the CFNU in his address June 7. “I have the deepest respect for your profession, you are the front-line,” he said. Williams also said his government is acting to restore public confidence in the public health system and he underlined his government’s commitment to Medicare.
Williams acknowledged that too many nurses work “12, even 16-hour shifts” and then have to go back immediately to do another shift. “Nurses are unable to take their vacations, and this must be addressed,” he said.
Nurses insist on pandemic protection
CFNU passed a strong resolution about pandemic planning and the protection of health staff as its first motion on Thursday. Delegates unanimously supported entrenching the “precautionary principle” in public health planning in order to ensure the safety of health care workers and the public. CFNU and its member organizations will be lobbying for amendments to build in the “precautionary principle” as a core element of the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Plan and of provincial plans.
The precautionary principle means erring on the side of caution. When there is any question or doubt the higher level of protection must be used.
The principle was not in play during the SARS outbreak in Toronto where two nurses and 42 others died. Justice Archie Campbell’s final report on that outbreak found that nurses had been supplied with inadequate protection, particularly masks.
In a position statement on staffing for a pandemic, CFNU stated: “Frighteningly, the evolution of the threat cannot be predicted, nor can the nature or severity of the outbreak. For this reason, one of the greatest threats to the health system is not just the outbreak of a pandemic, but an inability to limit the transmission and to provide adequate care.” The policy goes on to say “From the experience with SARS, we know first-hand how existing nursing shortages ‘were magnified when fewer nurses were available to work because of home/work quarantine, additional demands for infection control and restrictions on employment in more than one health care facility’.”
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