BC Nurses’ Union hold demonstration in downtown Vancouver, Wednesday

Hundreds of nurses from around the province took part in a demonstration on Wednesday afternoon in downtown Vancouver.

The focus was to raise awareness about the ongoing health-care crisis in B.C.

“Our nurses are working short-staffed constantly,” Aman Grewal, president of the BC Nurses’ Union said.

“They have extremely high nurse-patient ratios. They’re looking after eight, 10, 12 patients.”

The group started at the Vancouver Convention Centre, then headed south along Burrard Street to West Georgia Street, and returned to the convention centre.

The timing of Wednesday’s rally coincides with the union’s bargaining conference as its contact with the province expired in late March.

The BC Nurses’ Union has previously outlined early contract priorities which include safe staffing levels, fair wages and increasing workplace safety.

The B.C. government released a plan last week to tackle the health-care shortage, with the points of hiring internationally-educated nurses and funding 602 new nurse training seats.

Grewal said 602 is a “nice start” but it’s not enough.

“We are needing 26,000 new nurses by 2031 and we have 4,265 vacancies in nursing positions.”

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