Eastern Health on the defensive over Janeway patient transfers, marathon nursing shifts

Eastern Health is offering assurances that patient care is not at risk, following an especially busy time for the pediatric intensive-care unit — or PICU — at the Janeway Children's Hospital last month.

The increase in patients came at a time when there was a shortage of qualified nurses to backfill those on leave, requiring the health authority to send some patients out of the province and make some nurses work 24-hour shifts.

"I'm here to reassure the public that if your child needs the services and care, we will be able to provide it," said Elaine Warren, Eastern Health's vice-president of clinical services.

"There haven't been any staffing cuts to this unit," added Debbie Molloy, Eastern Health's vice-president of corporate services, which oversees staffing at the health authority.

It's the first time in a decade that Eastern Health was forced to divert patients to hospitals in mainland Canada because of a nursing shortage at the PICU.

This, combined with the requirement to make nurses pull double-shifts, drew some damning criticism.

Unit 'in crisis,' says union president

"This unit, I believe, is in crisis," Debbie Forward, president of the registered nurses' union, told CBC News on Wednesday.

"It's uncalled for. It's wrong to do that to staff. And it's unsafe for the patients," added Amie Richards of Spaniard's Bay, who spent 13 days at the Janeway last month with her 10-year-old daughter.

When asked if she thought the shortage created an unsafe situation, Forward replied, "You ask anyone if you're on hour 23 of a 24-hour shift, do you think you're safe? Your answer has to be no."

The criticism forced Eastern Health on the defensive.

"We don't want any nurses working 24 hours. We do our best to try and prevent that from happening," said Warren.

Molloy said it doesn't happen often. "When it does, we work to make sure we can still provide safe care."

The PICU has six beds, staffed by four specialized registered nurses per shift.

The unit is staffed 24 hours a day, with a staffing ratio consistent with national standards, said Eastern Health.

There are times when there are no patients on the unit, such as a two-week period in March. But that all changed last month, and a shortage of qualified replacement nurses forced the authority to take some extreme measures.

"While it may feel like there's a crisis to families of the patients who have to go out of the province, and to the nursing staff that are working there, we want to reassure the public that the pediatric intensive-care unit at the Janeway Hospital is staffed to care for patients on a daily basis," said Warren.

"We have our complement of permanent nurses, but sometimes we need more relief staff than we have access to."

New hires to start this month

Eastern Health is recruiting nurses to relieve the full-time members of the unit, and expect several new hires to begin working this month, said Warren.

Debbie Forward said the answer is more nurses.

"Wouldn't a better plan be to staff for a higher rate, so you're not paying overtime? You're not forcing people to work 24 hours" or diverting patients to other provinces, said Forward.

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