Nurses protest controversial Care Delivery Model Redesign (CDMR) - urge Island Health to agree to an independent, expert review
Victoria nurses rallied today at noon at Victoria General Hospital to protest against Island Health's controversial care delivery model, which is replacing 122 professional nurses with unlicensed care aides on medical and surgical units. Nurses are calling on Island Health to halt implementation immediately and agree to an independent, expert review of the potential damage to patient safety.
"We're rallying today to indicate our total opposition to radical changes in care delivery that come at the expense of patient safety," said BCNU President Debra McPherson. "This ill-considered scheme cuts the kind of care that's essential if patients are to avoid complications and return to good health."
Already being implemented at Nanaimo General Hospital where 26 RNs and LPNs were replaced by care aides, CDMR is now set for introduction in Victoria in early January 2014. To date Island Health has refused to produce evidence showing that CDMR will not negatively impact the safety of hospital care.
"People need to know that Island Health is cutting 226,920 hours of professional nursing care annually on these units, including renal and oncology," said Adriane Gear, BCNU South Islands
Co-Chair. "You cannot cut that much nursing care without cutting corners on safety, and that's totally unacceptable."
Nurses are clear that while care aides would be a welcome addition to existing care teams to assist patients with the activities of daily living, it's inappropriate to use them to replace professional nurses because they are untrained and unlicensed for the role. The net result is a dramatic increase in the number of patients cared for by each remaining nurse.
"This scheme severely restricts bedside nursing, making it much harder for nurses to observe and monitor their patients' condition," said Margo Wilton, BCNU South Islands Co-Chair. "Nurses are blowing the whistle on a bad care-model that dramatically raises the number of patients each nurse cares for, increasing the risk to patient safety."
For more information, contact:
David Cubberley, Campaigns Officer 604-992-9226