Emergency room nurses at the Lakeshore General Hospital refused to work and staged multiple sit-ins over the weekend, protesting the on-going staff shortages.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé said he is looking into the situation and the local health agency promises to set up a joint committee to try to find solutions to the hospital’s nurse shortage.
“The staff is very tired, they’re getting fed up,” said Pascal Drolet, a licensed practical nurse at the Lakeshore and local union VP of mobilization and communication. “It’s for the patient’s safety that we’re doing it.”
On three separate occasions over the weekend, the entire team of ER nurses stayed in the lunchroom as their shift started and waited for their employer, the West Island CIUSSS, to deploy administrators onsite to solve the staffing issue.
In all cases, the union claims it took the health agency three hours to resolve the problem and that the solution came from nurses who finally agreed to continue working after their 12-hour shifts.
READ MORE: Lakeshore General Hospital dealing with another coronavirus outbreak
The first incident took place on Saturday when there were missing five nurses out of 16 for the 8 p.m. shift. It was a similar case on Sunday morning and evening when the sit-ins were staged. Workers claim the staff shortage is nothing new but became critical during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“There’s about 20 empty positions right now in emergency but with the pandemic, it’s been a problem because they couldn’t post any positions and transfers (of workers between facilities) weren’t done,” said Drolet.
“Our situation is very dangerous at the Lakeshore — we need to correct it very very soon.”
In a news conference on Monday afternoon, Dubé said he was looking into the matter and hoped to accelerate negotiations with the province’s nurse’s union (FIQ) to find temporary solutions, at the very least.
“I am very concerned with that, that’s for sure,” said Dubé. “I think we have demonstrated with the préposés aux bénéficiaires (orderlies) that we could find solutions, I think we can find also solutions with nurses.
The West Island CIUSSS acknowledged the ongoing staffing problems and is now in the process of building a joint committee with workers to find solutions.
READ MORE: A day in the life of a Montreal licensed practical nurse working on a COVID-19 floor
“Our main challenge even before the pandemic was the lack of health-care workers, particularly nurses. Despite an increase in staffing in the last year, the labour shortage remains an issue and we continue with our efforts on this front,” said a statement from the health agency.
The union hasn’t ruled out resorting to more sit-ins. Despite facing the loss of seniority, wages and several other consequences, it’s something nurses say they’re ready to do. The union claims the employer did the right thing following the weekend’s sit-ins by holding off on punitive measures and paying workers, even when they refused to do their jobs.
“They didn’t give disciplinary measures, they paid the supper and they paid the supper hour overtime,” said Elizabeth Rich, VP of health and safety for the West Island FIQ.
Rich was called to the hospital on Saturday and again on Sunday to help resolve the conflict and claims the nurses’ pressure to get more staff may have even saved a life.
“When I came out, a nurse said thank God that you were there because there was a patient that coded and they needed that extra nurse,” said Rich.