After months without a break, Anne Boutillier, an emergency room nurse in Dartmouth, N.S., took a much-needed vacation earlier this summer.
But she received a call nearly every day to come back to help out. Soon after returning, she worked an 19-hour shift.
Boutillier had been on the schedule for 13 hours, but given the lack of staff, stayed on for another six.
“I feel guilty when I can’t do it — because I know my team and I know the burden the patients are suffering,” she said.
“I love my co-workers and I also care about my community. So when I can’t be here, it makes me feel like I’m letting the system down and I’m letting my colleagues down.”
Nova Scotia, in particular, saw one of the biggest increases in the proportion of nurses who did overtime during the pandemic, according to data from Statistics Canada compiled by CBC News.
As emergency rooms in some parts of Canada reduce their hours due to staffing shortages, and analysts warn the system is buckling under the strain, representatives for nurses say the signs of trouble were evident prior to the pandemic.
Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU), said the reliance on overtime to fill staff shortages has had a detrimental effect on the profession.
She said the lack of work-life balance drives many from full-time positions.
“It’s a vicious circle, but we have to stop it,” she said. “We’ve been talking about the working condition, the poor working conditions of nurses for 10, 15 years.”
Along with Nova Scotia, the amount of overtime required has been especially high in New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, the data shows, when compared to the national average.
September 2021 appears to have been an especially challenging month for Nova Scotia’s health system, with 47 per cent of its nurses working extra hours that month, marking the highest reliance on OT of any province in any month throughout the pandemic.
Further data indicates those nurses who do work overtime are clocking more hours. In July, the average nurse doing overtime worked nine extra hours, the highest that figure has been since the first months of the pandemic.
A shortage of staff has resulted in closures of emergency rooms in parts of the country, including Ontario and Quebec.
Silas said a lack of nurses was apparent prior to the pandemic and now the need is even more acute.
Already, in 2019, a third of registered nurses — who make up the majority of the nursing workforce — were over 50, with many close to retirement, according to the CFNU.
‘Fix the workplace’
A recent survey of the federation’s members found 94 per cent of respondents were experiencing burnout. Younger nurses said they were more likely to leave the profession.
Silas said many are tempted to leave full-time posts to work for agencies where they have a better schedule and pay.
“What we need to do is to fix the workplace,” she said. “We have to make sure there’s flexibility that they can get a day off and that we have a safe nurse-patient ratio.”
While OT work among all health-care workers sharply increased after March 2020, the rate has since plateaued among non-nursing health-care workers. The proportion of nurses clocking extra hours, however, continues to climb.
“It’s important to recognize that we have a problem and we need to fix it right away,” said Sylvain Brousseau, head of the Canadian Nurses Association.
Brousseau is also a professor at the Université du Québec en Outaouais and researches the working conditions of nurses.
He said the increased overtime is a symptom of a problem in the system — OT is now built into the managing structure at many hospitals.
“When you don’t fix the problem, people are leaving the health-care system,” he said.
WATCH | An N.L. nurse explains why she quit her job
Overworked N.L. nurse quits permanent job
13 days ago
Duration 2:12
Lauren Byrne quit her full-time job as an emergency room nurse in Newfoundland and Labrador because of a crushing workload and went casual, something her nursing colleagues are also considering.
Boutillier, for her part, wants to see the nurses still on the job rewarded, with better pay and time off when they request it.
“It’s the work-life balance that we don’t have. And that’s not being respected,” she said. “I feel like lately we’re just a cog in a wheel, filling a flooded system.”
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
