Lions Gate Hospital invokes unheard-of policy in the face of poor planning

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BCNU has learned of at least one hospital that has resorted to calling in nurses for mandatory overtime (OT), as they face the seasonal spike in patient volume levels. By the late evening of December 30, Lions Gate Hospital staff had called in at least four BCNU members to work mandatory OT; multiple wards were working a shift short, and an LPN was called in to work an RN shift in the ER.

By day's end, full-time stewards at Surrey Memorial Hospital had alerted BCNU to similar concerns over inadequate staffing in their ER, as they faced extremely high volumes of patients.

Members are reminded that they have the right to refuse unsafe patient care. Nurses have a duty to provide care; they are obligated to provide safe, competent and ethical care to clients, as set out in the CRNBC's Standards of Practice.

New language negotiated by BCNU into the collective agreement is designed to make employers more accountable for their staffing responsibilities, with a policy framework due March 2017. Meanwhile, the staffing situation at Lions Gate Hospital is a glaring example of a nursing shortage that continues to deteriorate, leaving nurses to bear the brunt of poorly planned staffing efforts.

BCNU is dedicated to its members and continues to fight for safe staffing levels that will result in the safe care of patients.