The Canadian Union of Public Employees says patients are being put at risk when nurses are required to work 24-hour shifts at the North Bay Regional Health Centre.
According to CUPE Local 139, the union that represents more than 1000 healthcare workers at the local hospital, there have been multiple times in the past two months when the employer has compelled nurses to work 24-hour shifts.
“We need healthcare workers to be alert on duty, especially when they are administering medication,” says Michael Hurley, the president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE). “Coercing nurses to work round the clock is inhumane and unsafe and it makes it virtually impossible for them to provide the quality of care that patients need.”
“Our research shows that North Bay needs nearly 500 additional staff over the next four years to meet the pressures of an aging and growing population and to meaningfully improve the quality of care,” Hurley says. “But 24-hour shifts will only drive nurses away and intensify the hospital staffing crisis.”
The union is urging the health centre to engage in talks to find solutions that address working conditions and patient safety.
We have reached out to the Health Centre for comment and will update the story.
