The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses says this week has been “a nightmare for staff,” adding that emergency rooms are still way over-capacity.
“When there’s too many patients in the unit itself, in the department, and then you add into it an overflowing waiting room and trying to care for people in hallways other than the rooms that are designed specifically for that, it creates safety issues,” said Denise Dick, the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses’ first vice-president.
The union says staff are struggling to keep up with demand at the Royal University and St. Paul’s hospitals.
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“It’s causing a lot of moral distress for our members or for the nurses that work in these departments, because the numbers are so high, and nurses have been raising this concern for a long time,” Dick said.
She added that on Wednesday afternoon there were 88 patients in the Royal University’s 41-bed ER: 17 were waiting to be seen, 26 were admitted but didn’t have a room, 15 were on beds in the hallway and 45 were in the waiting room.
“There’s no dignity for them when they’re getting treatments in a waiting room. Waiting rooms aren’t designed for that. They’re designed for people to wait to get the care they need,” Dick said.
She says a few nurses presented a report to the Health Ministry with solutions.
“Things that could be done to provide some relief. And the unfortunate part is, the nurses don’t feel that they’ve been heard because, like we’ve raised now, nothing has changed,” Dick said.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) said in a statement it takes patient care seriously and “acknowledges continued pressures in emergency departments and inpatient wards.”
The SHA said there is ongoing work to address emergency room flow and help eliminate the use of hallway beds.
— with files from Nicole Healy, Global News
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