Ratios Work! Nurses Rally to Call for Safer Working Conditions
Over 500 nurses, chanting, “hey! hey! ho! ho! ratios work! nurses know!” marched through the streets of Vancouver Thursday afternoon and called on provincial health employers to address the unsafe working conditions they face every day.
The nurses were gathered for the BC Nurses’ Union annual convention and took time from their meeting to march to the Vancouver Art Gallery over the lunch hour. Bystanders cheered and clapped as nurses marched down Georgia Street waving signs that read, ‘Ratios Work!’
Shaughnessy Heights regional council members Claudette Jutt and Gurvir Sekhon held a large “Ratios Save Lives” banner as BCNU Vice President Tristan Newby opened the event and acknowledged the nurses who had travelled to Vancouver from every health authority in the province.
“I’m inspired to know that many of you have travelled from communities across the province to be here today,” he said. “The last year has been hard for many of you. Physical violence and emotional abuse has become the norm. Weapons are being brought into health-care facilities. Many of you have been exposed to illicit substances. This is why we are rallying today.”
The energetic and inspiring rally amplified the urgent message that the health and safety risks nurses are facing at work are unacceptable and could hinder retention and recruitment efforts needed to implement minimum nurse-to-patient ratios.
“If health employers don’t give nurses’ health and safety the attention it deserves, minimum nurse-to-patient ratios will take even longer to be achieved,” warned BCNU President Adriane Gear, saying change can’t come soon enough. “If we continue to pressure health authorities to make our workplaces safer, more nurses will stay on the job and employers will be more likely to recruit new nurses to help fill those vacancies.”
Gear told members and the assembled media and public that nurses’ responses to a recent survey revealed startling statistics on the prevalence and frequency of workplace safety incidents, which were printed on oversized boards which nurses held on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
“Look at the boards in front of you,” she said. “Nurses are exposed to illicit substances, weapons, physical violence and verbal abuse. The problem has grown to unacceptable levels in every single health authority in this province.”
Gear said the personal experiences nurses shared clearly show how health employers are failing to make safety a priority.
“It’s time employers realize it is their legal and moral obligation to support their staff and make health-care settings safe for both nurses and patients,” she said.
Gear thanked the hundreds of nurses in attendance and assured them that the union will continue to advocate on behalf of all BCNU members across the province.
“We are working with government to make ratios a reality and we will continue to advocate for our members and patients,” she pledged.
“Nurses know that ratios are the solution to ensuring that patients receive the care they deserve. Ratios save money, they improve patient outcomes and, they save lives.”