Some retired B.C. nurses are questioning why they’re sitting on the sideline of B.C.’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, while working firefighters have been recruited to help with the job.
“I feel very disrespected, I feel ignored,” Karen Thayer, a retired registered nurse with 35 years on the job told Global News.
Thayer retired in February 2020, right before the pandemic, and applied to help with immunizations this spring. Two and a half months later, she said she’s heard nothing back beyond a generic email.
“I’m interested to find out why (Fraser Health has) chosen to hire firefighters when there are, presumably, a lot of us nurses that answered the call in march and haven’t heard anything back,” she said
Annemarie Plumridge spent 41 years working as a registered nurse in Fraser Health, before retiring about a decade ago.
She, too, answered the call but said her application has been left “under review,” with no timeline on when she might find out whether she’s needed.
“I think its in our DNA as nurses to want to help with public healthcare in a time of pandemic and almost disaster,” she said.
“We want to be there to help, we want to talk to people who come in and want their vaccinations, we want to experience that joy with them to be able to get them to resume some kind of normalcy to see their grandchildren again or their families.”
While some retired nurses like Thayer and Plumridge say they’ve been left waiting, many vaccination sites in Fraser Health are staffed with firefighters who have been trained by other nurses to give shots.
The B.C. Professional Firefighters Association confirmed to Global News that its members had been invited by the health authority to help, and are being paid overtime.
That compensation could work out to up to three times a nurse’s wage.
Despite that, the B.C. Nurses Union says the issue isn’t about money.
‘This is about having nurses who are the lead professionals on immunization being given priority amongst other professionals that have so willingly stepped up to support the effort,” BCNU president Christine Sorensen said.
Thayer argued nurses have a specialty in immunization, including conducting pre-assessments, taking temperatures, confirming consent, explaining the vaccination process and post-care.
“A firefighter can not do any of that work, the only thing they can do is give the injection.”
B.C. Professional Firefighters Association president Gord Ditchburn said his members were simply answering the province’s call, and have nothing but respect for the nurses they’re working alongside.
“Any use of whatever profession, and in this case, firefighters, is deemed by the health authority, the government and the individual department based on the availability of staff,” he said.
“It’s not our position to make that decision.”
Fraser Health would not confirm how many retired nurses had applied to work in a clinic, but did say 61 retired professionals are now working at vaccine sites.
The health authority did not answer when asked why firefighters were being hired ahead of retired nurses.
“I think we could work together, but I don’t think they should be hired instead of us,” Plumridge said.
“It’s not about firefighters and its not about them unable to do the job, and it’s not about them responding to the call for help — it’s wonderful, as doctors and pharmacists have done the same,” Thayer said.
“My concern is firefighters are already working, so they would then be paid overtime for every shift.”
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