Dozens of nursing vacancies at both Health Sciences and St. Clare’s ERs are part of a recent advisory from Eastern Health asking people not to show up at the capital’s ERs unless they have a serious emergency.
Registered Nurses Union President Yvette Coffey calls the Emergency Department a “boiling point” with 20 or more patients admitted between the two hospitals each day, with no beds available. He says nurses are leaving ERs in droves.
She says there are at least 19 registered nurse vacancies at Health Sciences Emergency, as well as some vacancies at St. Clare’s Emergency. Some RNs quit and leave the province, some quit to work in agencies, while others go on an occasional basis.
Coffey says demand has increased due to a shortage of primary care professionals such as family doctors and nurses. Not to mention the recent temporary ER closures in places like Whitbourne.
He says they have a meeting with the Department of Health later this month to discuss funding models for nurses, “but it has to happen yesterday”.
