The B.C. Nurses’ Union says it has received 1,700 complaints from nurses across the province — and at least 205 in Island Health — concerned that health authorities are unable to provide them with an adequate supply of personal protective equipment amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are questioning whether health authorities are doing enough,” union president Christine Sorensen said Monday.
The nurses are complaining of not having ready and sufficient access to equipment such as gowns, gloves, face shields and N95 respirators, Sorensen said, and many feel they can not speak out to their employers.
Sorensen said she is troubled by reports from nurses of employers asking them to take measures to preserve personal protective equipment — using just one mask a day, for instance — that could put their safety at risk.
She also noted that triage desks in some emergency departments do not have plastic shields installed, a situation she called “unfathomable.”
Some hospitals keep personal protective equipment at a central location where nurses are expected to sign it out as strict counts of N95 masks are kept, Sorensen said.
“It should be on the unit where they are providing care. For a nurse to have to go and look for personal protective equipment, that delays patient care,” Sorensen said.
“We have asked for it to be returned to every unit so nurses have unfettered access and they do not have to ask another person, a manager, on the floor, if they can access an N95 mask,” she said.
“If they are having difficulty accessing personal protective equipment, we are asking them to advise the union, advise the nurses, make sure they’re transparent and tell us exactly what the supply is,” Sorensen said of health authorities.
Of those who have tested positive for COVID-19, 428 — 21 per cent of all cases — have been health-care workers, according to data released Monday by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.
“That’s not all nurses but it’s still greatly concerning,” Sorensen said.
The Health Ministry did not immediately provide a response to the union’s concerns about personal protective equipment.
Island Health said it works with staff toward efficient and responsible use of personal protective equipment and that ensuring frontline health-care workers are protected and have the equipment when and where they need it “is a critical piece of our pandemic response.”
“All health authorities are following provincial directions whereby, when appropriate, N95 respirators are collected and sterilized to be reused as a backup, if required,” said a statement from the health authority. “To date, this has not been required by Island Health.”
Respirators are marked as reprocessed and are inspected to ensure they meet National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Health Canada and WorkSafe B.C. requirements, Island Health said.
Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses, said most provinces appear to have enough personal protective equipment but some of it may be saved because of fears about a second wave of the virus, which amounts to “bad practice.”
“Our major concern is the fact that we’re not dealing adequately with the front-line workers of this wave,” she said.
“We’re thinking of tomorrow but we have to protect the workers of today.”
