Image Credit: CFJC Today

By James Peters

Two & Out

PETERS: The staffing situation at RIH is grim, but the goose is far from cooked

May 6, 2022 | 11:11 AM

THE STORY OF THE MOTHER GOOSE laying her eggs outside the Royal Inland Hospital maternity ward must have been a welcome respite from all the doom and gloom for staff at the hospital.

It was a heart-warming distraction for a group of nurses and other healthcare professionals who could use the relief.

Really, though, what they could use is actual relief.

Last weekend, the hospital had half the nurses on shift that it should be operating with. Some reports suggest the actual proportion was even lower.

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That means every nurse was literally doing the work of two people.

That happens from time to time in various wards, but rarely in the entire hospital at once.

COVID is tearing through the community again, and that may be playing a factor, but our sources confirm it’s burnout that is keeping a lot of those absent staff away.

As for the vaccine mandate that many have cited as a reason for the shortage, it would be fascinating to know if unvaccinated healthcare staff would be welcomed back by their vaccinated colleagues.

Hypothetically, if the province would drop the vaccine mandate for health workers, would vaccinated staff be grateful for the relief or would they be fearful of the increased risk brought to their jobs?

On the administrative side, Interior Health was more than happy to talk about those geese, but doesn’t have a peep about staffing.

That’s as understandable as it is inexcusable.

After all, if IH is trying to hire to solve these staffing shortages, bad news stories about the hospital don’t exactly help with recruiting.

The interesting thing is, even despite all these challenges, a lot of healthcare professionals who work at RIH still report loving their jobs.

They love their patients and they love their coworkers — just what you would hope for from healthcare workers.

That professionalism — combined with the investment in the facility itself made by various levels of government — should give us hope that this staffing crisis can be solved.

It’s not a lot of fun at RIH right now — but the goose is far from cooked.

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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.