A Kootenay Road Trip
ON THE ROAD Eric Konkin, Lindsay Bennett, resident Geordon Omand and BCNU President Adriane Gear at Boundary Hospital in Grand Forks
Like most rural communities in BC, those in the province’s Kootenay region face escalating health-care challenges impacting patient care. To learn more on the ground and solicit input from members in this region, BC Nurses’ Union President Adriane Gear, Interim Executive Councilor Denise Waurynchuk and West Kootenay regional council member Shalane Wesnoski embarked on a tour of BCNU’s east and west Kootenay regions in July.
During their four-day visit, the delegation visited Elk Valley Hospital in Fernie, Sparwood Primary Health Care, Creston Valley Hospital, Boundary Hospital in Grand Forks, Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital and Kiro Wellness Centre in Trail, and Castlegar and District Community Health Centre. They held dinner discussions with members in Fernie, Trail and Castlegar, learning the effects of the nursing shortage.
In these communities, vacancy rates in some emergency departments have reached 40 percent, leading to closed emergency rooms and delayed care. In the summer months, visits to emergency rooms increase significantly due to increased traffic, tourism, heat waves and wildfires in the region – all of which make summer especially challenging.
“We’ve seen how the nursing shortage affects rural health care. Emergency rooms are closing, forcing long drives and delayed patient care,” says Gear. “We need a plan to improve health care for rural residents and to support nurses.”
Members told the delegation about significant health and safety oversights endangering members in these communities. Many rural health-care facilities don’t have 24-hour in-house security, leading to frequent security threats,” Gear remarks. “It’s not unusual for nurses to wait upwards of an hour for RCMP to respond to serious threats.” Equally concerning, members who’ve endured traumatic workplace experiences lack access to adequate mental health supports due to a shortage of psychiatric professionals in the region.
“Whether it’s due to inadequate security design measures or a lack of security personnel, nurses are far too often exposed to violence.”
- BCNU President Adriane Gear
Gear reminded members about the NBA Hardship Assistance initiative, which supports nurses facing immediate needs or unexpected hardship.
Members showed the delegation wards where pediatric psych and non-psych patients are rooming too closely together and units without secure sheltering spaces and adequate exits. “Whether it’s due to inadequate security design measures or a lack of security personnel, nurses are far too often exposed to violence,” Gear states.
In addition to inadequate safety in health-care workplaces, members noted that the vast driving distances between communities in the Kootenays can hinder proactive care. Case managers in community and home care sometimes oversee up to 350 patients. Long driving distances and dangerous road conditions throughout the Kootenays also increase safety risks for community health-care workers. Gear emphasized that minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in rural settings must consider these various factors, including the specializations and services provided in the region. “Regardless of where our nurses are working, urban or rural, acute, community or long-term care,” Gear observes, “minimum nurse-to-patient ratios will make a difference.” •
UPDATE (Summer 2024)