File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Jill Sperling

Nurse shortage

Nurse shortage impacting ER and ICU at Royal Inland Hospital

Jul 19, 2019 | 10:07 AM

KAMLOOPS — The regional chair of the BC Nurses’ Union says Royal Inland Hospital is currently facing a shortage of critical care nurses.

Tracy Quewezance says there are significant temporary and permanent vacancies in the hospital’s ER and ICU.

Having checked the numbers just yesterday (July 18), Quewezance says there were 12 vacancies in the ER and 15 in the ICU.

“The nurses are doing the best they can under those circumstances when they are short,” she said. “They do have to consolidate at times, because our ER department is in a couple of different areas. They have what they call a streaming area, then they have an area that has the admitted patients that don’t have beds yet in the hospital, and then there’s the main ER department.

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“So, you know at times when they are short sometimes those other areas end up getting closed and they bring those patients into the main department.”

Quewezance says additional training is being provided by Interior Health for nurses who want to work in the affected departments.

She adds the issue is not isolated to Kamloops.

“A lot of retirements that have happened, seasoned nurses that have left, people that may have retired sooner than they expected because they were burned out,” Quewezance said.

“It’s not one thing that caused it all, but we are seeing this right across this province.”