Respiratory therapist urges province to provide better mental health support for front-line workers

A respiratory therapist on Vancouver Island says hospital working conditions have grown dire during the two-year COVID-19 pandemic as staff contend with a lack of mental health supports.

"I have a lot of colleagues and friends that are taking a step back from the bedside due to psychological, physical and moral injuries," Shannon Knight said on the CBC's The Early Edition on Monday.

Knight shared her frustrations in a letter to the province's Ministry of Health saying health-care workers, especially respiratory therapists, have dealt with seriously ill patients throughout the pandemic.

"We're in contact with generally all COVID patients, especially the ones that are critically ill," Knight said. "Over the last few years we've endured a lot of deaths and devastation ... it's really taxing and takes an emotional toll."

Over the last two years, more than 2,500 British Columbians have lost their lives to the virus and more than 15,000 people have been hospitalized since the pandemic began in 2020.

Over that time, numerous health-care workers and professional organizations have spoken out about dealing with staff shortages, abuse and burnout.

Earlier this month, Doctors of B.C. president Ramneek Dosanjh said she has heard from multiple physicians ready to leave the profession, a warning echoed by the B.C. Nurses Union.

"They're emotionally exhausted," Dosanjh said of health-care workers on the front lines. "They're feeling depleted."

Knight says while some supports are offered, they don't always meet the needs of health-care workers like herself. For example, she doesn't understand why her benefits will cover unlimited massages, but only cover $900 for personal counselling.

"That's like five sessions for the entire year," she said. "I can't easily access counselling or counselors all the time."

She said she wrote a letter to the ministry asking for an on-site counselor for respiratory therapists and some time to debrief after a loss or traumatic situation.

"We just don't make time to accept or process these things. We just carry on because that's what the system says we have to do. But I think we can take 15 minutes and acknowledge that we are human."

CBC News requested an interview with Island Health on Friday, who directed inquiries to the Ministry of Health.

The Ministry acknowledged the request Friday but has yet to respond.