NURSES AND SUPPORT STAFF at Royal Inland Hospital — the ones who are left — are scared.
They’re scared they are going to get COVID-19 — and they might.
They’re scared they are going to burn out — and they might.
And they’re scared that if they talk about their workplace to local reporters or on social media, their Interior Health managers will punish them or bully them into silence.
It is notoriously difficult to get RIH nurses and support staff on the record because they fear reprisal from their employer.
Will IH actually punish them for speaking? Employees believe the organization will, so the real answer doesn’t really matter.
This fear is all you need to know about why nurses are finally throwing up their hands and saying they’ve had enough, and it’s all you need to know about the workplace environment fostered at RIH.
It’s extremely unfortunate — not only for those who work at the hospital, but for our entire region.
The province is in the midst of spending more than $400 million — the largest single public expenditure in Kamloops history — to build the gleaming Patient Care Tower on the hospital’s grounds.
This after many more millions in recent years were invested in upgrades meant to bring RIH up to the standard of a world class tertiary care centre.
There are few complaints about the facility itself, and there will be even fewer once the tower is complete and operational.
But who will staff it?
The province has committed to providing funding and training for staff to populate the new tower, but recruitment and retention is going to be a huge challenge thanks in no small part to the issues we just covered.
Once you have the proper training and experience, you want to work in a place with state-of-the-art facilities, pleasant colleagues and a reasonable workload.
Royal Inland Hospital is working on the first, but seems to be absolutely bungling the second two.
With nurses leaving in droves, the snowball is rolling downhill and there is no telling when it might stop.
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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.
