N.S. nurses say ‘crisis in staffing’ continues to take emotional and physical toll

A Nova Scotia nurse says health-care workers are continuing to battle burnout. Their union calls it a crisis in staffing that's taking a toll mentally and physically.

As a registered nurse working in infection control, Natalie Nymark knows what it means to be busy, overworked and burned out.

It’s becoming evident among her colleagues now more than ever, she said.

“They’re burning out at the bedside and in patient care,” she said.

Nymark primarily works with the women, mental health and addictions programs at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked with infection control at the Northwood long-term care centre that became the epicentre of the province’s outbreak in 2020.

She said that in recent years, the health-care system has been growing increasingly strained amid a shortage of workers.

Even seasoned nurses are leaving the profession or retiring early.

“When you lose even mid-career nurses — like five, 10, 15 years out in their career — you’re losing the ability to have a nurse who can walk into a room and just know what to do next,” she said.