October 19, 2006
Calgary ER nurses meet to deal with ER crisis
The round of recent news stories about miscarriages in Calgary is making Emergency Room nurses’ jobs even more difficult, the nurses are reporting. UNA held a special meeting for ER nurses in Calgary on October 12 to discuss how to handle the publicity and the tremendous pressure being put on triage and ER nurses.
“There is a genuine fear someone is going to die in our waiting room,” one nurse reported at the meeting.
“Patients are now using cell phone cameras to take the picture of triage nurses to try to intimidate them,” another one noted. Nurses were angry the Region has taken down the Zero Tolerance of Abuse posters and not replaced them. The level of hostility and lack of confidence among patients has gone up tremendously with the news coverage, they said.
The meeting also discussed steps the Region is taking to deal with the long waits in ERs, and what nurses would like to see done.
“We need a system-wide approach that doesn’t pit nursing units against each other,” concluded UNA President Heather Smith. ER nurses from three Calgary hospitals as well as Local Presidents Linda Harkness, Michelle Senkow and Wendy Brigham all attended the meeting. Heather Smith and Vice President Bev Dick were also there.
The meeting concluded with some concrete steps UNA will be taking to support the ER nurses and work with the Region to solve the problems.
Billboards: Alberta seniors deserve better
UNA members joined in with Public Interest Alberta’s campaign for seniors today when it launched billboards in cities across the province. Noel Somerville, from the Public Interest Alberta Seniors’ Taskforce said the billboards were part of the advocacy campaign to get the government “to address the serious shortcomings in homecare and long-term care in Alberta.”
In Edmonton the launch was accompanied by seniors in beds in a parking lot in front of the billboard.
“The beds and the Raging Grannies are here to dramatize the fact that, unless steps are taken to rectify the deficiencies in care for seniors, we might as well be plunking them in parking lots,” Noel Somerville said.
In Edmonton UNA Vice President Bev Dick was one of the speakers at the launch.
“In some cases RNs are responsible for over 100 residents in long-term care facilities. Many nurses don’t have enough time to do all the things, they feel need to be done,” Bev Dick said.
“This level of commitment to our seniors in our province is disgraceful.”
Nurses joined in the billboard launches in Red Deer and Grande Prairie as well and billboard events were also held in Lethbridge and Calgary.
Federal government chops women’s funding
Women’s groups across Canada called on people to protest the federal cuts and changes to Status of Women Canada.
“The organization is in great jeopardy after announcements of recent cuts and changes to its mandate,” they say.
Status of Women Canada and the women’s organizations it supports advocate and lobby on behalf of women.
“Without them, the future for women’s equality rights in Canada is at risk,” says the call for support.
On September 25, 2006, the federal government announced a 5 million dollar (40%) cut to SWC’s administrative budget.
On October 3rd, they removed the word “equality” from SWC’s mandate and changed the rules so that women’s groups cannot use federal funding to do advocacy or lobbying.
Nurse numbers rise slightly in Alberta
New national statistics show the number of nurses in Alberta has actually gone up slightly in the last year. The average age has dropped just a bit as well, but the report also shows that 9,824 of the province’s 26,355 RNs, that is over one third, are 50 years of age or older.
“The report is a bit of good news,” says UNA Vice President Bev Dick. “We have a few more nurses. But it’s not all good news. The big retirement crunch that has been predicted for years will really be starting now.”
Most Registered nurses retire about age 55, which is lower than the average in the general workforce.
Bev Dick noted that the nursing shortage would be dramatically worsened if many experienced nurses retire soon. “We all have an interest in encouraging these nurses to keep working,” she said.
“Retaining nurses is not ‘rocket science’”, says Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions President, Linda Silas in response to the numbers. “We need commitment from governments and employers to work with the unions to sustain meaningful changes in workplaces, to improve retention, recruitment and ultimately, patient care”.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information releases its update annually on its national nurse database that tracks nursing demographics.
The report also showed that the number of nurses working full-time in Alberta is quite a bit lower than the national average. Across Canada 54% of “regulated nurses” work full-time but in Alberta it is significantly lower at 38.2%. More Alberta RNs are working both part-time and casual.
“The number of nurses working full-time actually dropped in Alberta over the last year,” Bev Dick notes. “”We’re far below what is optimal for continuity of care and quality outcomes.”
The report notes that of the regulated nurses (that includes RNs, RPNs and LPNs) employed in Alberta the percentage of foreign-trained regulated nurses increased from 4.3% in 2004 to 4.4% in 2005. Of the Canadian-trained regulated nurses, 73.7% were educated in Alberta, 7.2% in Saskatchewan and 6.8% in Ontario.
MEDICARE WORKS! KEEP IT PUBLIC, KEEP IT FAIR
“Medicare Works,” a national campaign tour to defend and strengthen the public health care system, was launched October 18 in cities across Canada.
“The public system is under renewed attack, with the federal government not enforcing the Canada Health Act and some provinces aggressively pushing for-profit, two-tier health services,” said Kathleen Connors, chair of the Canadian Health Coalition (CHC). “We’re urging Canadians to pressure their governments to strengthen Medicare through innovation in the public system.”
Medicare Works was officially launched by CHC Coordinator Michael McBane and Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions national President, Linda Silas at the New Brunswick Nurses Union annual convention in Saint John.
The campaign features 32 “Town Hall” community meetings across Canada and National Medicare Week, a “week of action” November 13 to 18 when Canadians will be encouraged to pressure their politicians. At the Town Halls, health analysts and social activists will expose the commercial interests behind the renewed attack on Medicare and discuss how public sector innovation is a better way to strengthen the system. Mary Walsh, actor and writer, kicks off the first Town Hall October 19, in St. John’s, Nfld.
The campaign tour will be in Alberta for events in
• Edmonton, Monday, October 30
• Red Deer, (day-time media event) TBC Tuesday, October 31
• Calgary, Wednesday, November 1
• Lethbridge, Thursday, November 2
On the lighter side
The top ten reasons for working an overtime shift on a weekend are:
10. Think of all the weight you’ll lose from not getting to eat because of short staffing.
9. Think of the closeness you’ll develop with your co-workers after being knee-deep in Code 10’s, Code Blues and Code Browns.
8. Everyone is so frazzled, so, next to them, you look fabulous!
7. Think of what a challenge it will be to your nursing skills to run a code without a Crash Cart because they are all down in Central Supply being replaced.
6. The joy of having the previous shift’s charge nurse tell you, “I don’t understand why no one would return my calls to work today or tonight. Oh, and by the way, you have four nurses for this shift, and a full house of patients sick as dogs.”
5. Because you’re a new grad and you want to be a “TEAM PLAYER” like your head nurse told you to be.
4. When you go home with your back aching from not having enough staff and your feet aching from running your butt off for “emergency procedures” you’ll know that you really ARE a caregiver.
3. Think of all the computer skills you’ll gain from putting in your own orders and ordering supplies from Central Supply because your Unit Secretary got pulled to another unit.
2. You don’t have time to adequately chart so you may get to learn how our judicial system works. On the bright side, your handwriting will be so bad that it can say whatever you want it to say!
1. Think of what a GREAT “Learning Experience” this will be.
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