Agreement to Reduce Nursing Shortage at VGH Jim Pattison OR (JPOR) a Good First Step to Address Province-Wide Issues
The BCNU and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority are looking to improve the nursing shortage in this level one trauma centre through an agreement that was announced to staff late last week.
The essence of the problem is that there simply are not enough specialty educated nurses and as a consequence nurses are working hundreds of hours in overtime and also expected to be on call for hundreds of hours each year. The specific and highly specialized services provided in JPOR, include solid organ transplants and the nature of such work presents uniquely challenging work demands, not found in a number of other facilities.
The BC Nurses' Union recognizes that nursing shortages for highly qualified OR and other nurses is province wide and that the working conditions and long shifts are taking the toll on members all over our province. BCNU is hopeful that this agreement will be a good first step in demonstrating how to tackle some of these issues.
Nurses at the site will receive a $5.00 per hour premium which replaces current OR RN and monthly premiums until there is a stable complement of OR nurses. In addition, VCH will invest $1.5 million in OR nursing education 2016/17. Changes to shift schedules, a reduction in on call hours including on weekends and increased recruitment outside BC are all part of the agreement.
The BC Nurses' Union will continue to look for ways to address the lack of nurses needed to provide safe care - in every worksite and every community in BC. As this most recent agreement and the staffing grievance settlement shows, pursuing safe staffing through the Notice of Complaint process and safe staffing contract language can result in real changes at your worksite.
In the long run we need to make sure that all of the 2125 nurses promised in our last agreement are in place. Nurses also need to know that there is a real commitment from health authorities to work together for the long term solutions though bargaining which will ensure safe patient care.