The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) says it is shocked and disappointed to hear reports of patients being treated in waiting rooms and common areas of hospitals, leaving them with little privacy and low quality of care.
“It’s pretty obvious that we’ve lost our way here,” SUN president Tracy Zambory said. “We actually need to be talking about the fact that we are in crisis in our emergency rooms across this province.”
Zambory said St. Paul’s Hospital, Royal University Hospital and to a lesser extent City Hospital are dealing with capacity issues.
She said Regina’s Pasqua Hospital and General Hospital are also affected.
Zambory said it’s for a “myriad” of reasons, with COVID playing a huge role.
“When there’s this great of pressure, there’s a pretty good chance the people are being discharged before they should be because there’s such a pressure to get people out of the emergency room to get rid of this bottleneck,” she said.
According to Zambory, seven out of 10 nurses feel overwhelmed, burnt out, frustrated and unsupported, leading some to leave the profession.
Zambory said she worries about where this leaves less experienced nurses.
“There are more junior people being put into positions that put them into a fear that they are not able to provide safe patient care and that they don’t have that experience under their belt to be able to manage this pressure,” she said.
Even experienced nurses are having challenges dealing with the situation, she said.
Zambory wants Health Minister Paul Merriman and Premier Scott Moe to reinstate the mask mandate in indoor public spaces, bring back daily case reporting and acknowledge that there is a problem.
While speaking to reporters at the Legislature on Wednesday, Merriman said he acknowledges Saskatoon and other areas are experiencing challenges.
“If you look at our whole healthcare system, we have 140 to 150 patients in there that are COVID-related incidents, our system can handle that. It’s when all of the pressures start building up on top of that that we get challenged,” he said.
Merriman said that’s why there is money in the budget to get ICU capacity in Regina, the “high acuity beds” and the urgent care centres.
He adds that he appreciates the work frontline healthcare workers do and that he regularly talks to the Saskatchewan Medical Association, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan and doctors.
