“Things are worse now. And I don’t think the general public understands how difficult it is to be a patient or a nurse right now,” Birgit Umaigba, a Toronto-based intensive care unit nurse, told CTV News Channel on Monday. Several hospitals across Ontario announced this weekend that they will be temporarily closing or reducing emergency room and ICU services due to continued staff shortages. Since the start of the pandemic, nurses across Canada have faced long work hours with little time for breaks and vacations. “It’s difficult for patients who have to wait hours in the emergency room to be seen, let alone treated,” Umaigba said. “People are suffering — staff and patients. It’s very difficult right now.” It’s a similar story in BC, where emergency rooms at four hospitals in the interior of the province were temporarily closed in mid-July. And in New Brunswick, several emergency rooms have had to reduce their hours due to limited staffing. In June, Statistics Canada reported an all-time high of 136,800 health care job vacancies throughout the first quarter of 2022 — nearly double the amount reported in the first quarter of 2020. Additionally, one in four nurses said they plan to quit their jobs in the next three years. A survey conducted by the Canadian Association of Public Employees this year found that 87 per cent of 2,600 registered nurses in hospitals considered leaving their jobs after experiencing poor working conditions and abuse from patients’ families. “Nurses are really tired and they’re like, ‘You know what? I’m done”. And working conditions have not improved. They have actually gotten worse,” Umaigba said. The ICU nurse said she had to work a 16-hour shift last week because there was no other nurse to take care of a critically ill patient. “I have colleagues in their 20s, just last week in the nurses’ lounge, talking about starting anti-anxiety medication, just because of the stress of the job, not knowing what to expect when you walk in, taking more than you can handle. it really handles,” he said. Last month, Canada’s premiers convened in Victoria, calling for more health care funding from the federal government to address chronic staff shortages. Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones’ office told The Canadian Press on Friday in a written statement that the province is working with “all partners,” including hospitals and unions, and said Ontario has “an ambitious plan for greater recruitment and health education. initiative in the history of the province”. However, Umaigba remains skeptical about the province’s recruitment plan, adding that since 2019, salary increases for nurses have been limited due to Bill 124. “Where are they going to hire nurses from? What nurses are going to come into this kind of workforce right now and not quit? The workload has increased and nurses’ salaries are limited to a one percent increase per year,” he said. “That’s the number one thing the Ford government needs to work on: repealing Bill 124.” With files from CTVNews.ca’s Deena Zaidi, Melissa Lopez-Martinez and The Canadian Press.
