N.L. nurses' union, Eastern Health meet to discuss staffing issues in pediatric ICU
CBC
The president of Newfoundland and Labrador's union of registered nurses says low staffing, rather than a lack of beds, is the primary reason why the Janeway pediatric intensive care unit in St. John's was placed on diversion to a Halifax hospital at least three times this fall.
Yvette Coffey says a recent meeting between the Registered Nurses' Union of Newfoundland and Labrador and Eastern Health senior leadership set wheels in motion, but was light on long-term solutions to staffing problems for the unit, which serves the province's critically ill children.
"The whole crux of the matter is staffing," she told CBC News. "We can have a physical bed space, but if you don't have the registered nurses to staff those beds and to care for the patients, it's no good having a bed."
Coffey said the union decided to request a meeting with Eastern Health senior leadership to work together to come up with solutions to staffing problems in the unit.
"The well-being of our members is one thing, but who wants a registered nurse working 20, 16, 24 hours looking after a very sick pediatric patient?" she said.
In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Eastern Health said four staff members with previous PICU experience have been redeployed to the unit this fall, but Coffey said those nurses still have to deal with a workload in their other unit.
She said the unit has resorted to using Janeway recovery room nurses to care for stable PICU patients.
Coffey said staff in the unit were on mandatory standby for eight- and 12-hour shifts until this week. During her meeting with Eastern Health, she said, senior leadership promised there would be no mandatory standby or overtime over the holidays, though both will start up again in January.
The spokesperson said a floater team of specialized nursing staff was created in 2019 to alleviate pressure on the PICU. Coffey said the team was established with at least four positions, but it isn't currently active.
"The people who successfully, you know, were awarded those positions are still not released to work in the pediatric ICU," she said.
During the meeting last Tuesday with Eastern Health leadership, she said, the union pushed for those staff members to be released to go to the PICU. According to Coffey, Eastern Health is discussing the release of those staff members but has not provided a timeline.
CBC News has requested an interview with Eastern Health about the PICU.
Coffey said the union is also pushing for a set protocol for when patients are diverted to Halifax. She said diversion is based on the acuity of the patient, nursing resources, and the number of current patients.
"It isn't just about the number of beds," she said.
Dozens of Indigenous women with a desire to learn how to hunt and to use traditional methods to prepare the animal will meet this weekend for the first-ever all-female deer hunt on Oneida Nation of the Thames territory.
A disgraced real-estate lawyer who this week admitted to pilfering millions in client money to support her and her family's lavish lifestyle was handcuffed in a Toronto courtroom Friday afternoon and marched out by a constable to serve a 20-day sentence for contempt of court, as her husband and mother watched.
A provincial child-care advocacy group says governments need to commit to pushing $10-a-day child care forward in Canada, but a conservative think tank says data shows it isn't working as intended in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Diane Sims has already written her own obituary.
Thirty years after her murder in 1994, Halifax police are still looking for Kimber Leanne Lucas's killer.
When Kevin Campbell took a 1991 Chevy truck in trade at his dealership on Moncton's Salisbury Road in early November, he didn't have it for long.
Quebec mayor says 'one-size-fits-all' language law isn't right for his town where French is thriving
English is not Daniel Côté's first language but he says it's integral to the town he calls home.
As their role in health care continues to grow, nurse practitioners across Canada are looking to Alberta, where nurse practitioners recently formed their own union — but on P.E.I., the nurses' union that represents them says it's doing its job.
As the fallout over fallen buildings in Gore Park continues, Hamilton officials will be turning their attention to other properties.
Fire crews responded to a transport truck fire on the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit.
When the government touts that its auto insurance reforms might curb premiums by $400 come 2027, the ministers and premier don't readily mention what's to come in the three years leading up to that.