Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 07/98) - A nurse who has worked at the Baffin Regional Hospital in Iqaluit for the past 18 years is calling the current shortage of nursing staff an emergency situation which is only going to get worse during the Christmas season.

Heather Swinton said when the temporary staff, brought in to help remedy the shortage, go back home and two full-time nurses scheduled for leave go out on holidays, the number of available nurses will be reduced to just 11 or 12. Swinton said this means the number of available beds, 34, would have to be drastically reduced.

"In December, we've only got nine beds we can use with the nursing staff we've got. That's including pediatrics and adults -- nine beds," said Swinton.

"Maybe we'll be lucky and we won't have any emergencies over Christmas, but that's not the way to run a hospital, counting on luck."

Swinton said something like a large accident or an RSV outbreak could spell real trouble for both staff and patients.

"If we had a disaster now in Iqaluit, and it wouldn't have to be a big one, we wouldn't be able to handle it," said Swinton.

She said nurses have spoken to management about the growing shortage for the past year, but the people making the decisions seemed to think a solution was always just around the corner.

"They have the feeling that all of these nurses are going to fall out of the sky," said Swinton. "Nurses are not going to come here for what they have to offer. The cost of living is too high, housing is too high."

Hospital administration, who put last Friday's number of full-time nurses at 18.5, but didn't know how many temporary nurses were now employed at the hospital, were unable to say how many beds would remain open later this month.

"We can't say, but we are going to be doing daily assessments of bed availability depending on the acuity of patients and the skill of the nurses," said Judy Watts, the director of hospital services.

Jarvis Hoult, the chief executive officer of the Baffin regional health and social services board, said the health-care resources would go where they were needed the most and that if need be, more patients would be sent to Ottawa or Yellowknife to receive medical care.

Hoult also said the number of nurses would not decrease in December because other temporary workers had been recruited to cover those who were leaving.

Swinton maintained, however, that many of the nurses no longer thought the hospital was a safe place to work and that she was doubly frustrated by the lack of effort that had been put into solving the problem.

Health Minister Kelvin Ng met with staff, management and the board last month to discuss the matter and promised to take the issue back to cabinet. He has not publicly released the results of that meeting, but Swinton said he told them his hands were tied because of collective agreement process.

Mediation talks are scheduled to take place this coming weekend and a signed agreement between the GNWT and the Union of Northern Workers may be in sight, but many people, Swinton included, feel the increases in salary and benefits still won't do anything to lure and keep nurses in the North.

Dennis Patterson, the chairperson of the board, said while the government's current offer looked good for nurses, the situation was a result of several aggravating factors and would take more than what was on the table to improve things.

"We have to find a way of dealing with housing and vacation allowances," said Patterson.

The board is scheduled to meet in Iqaluit this week to further discuss the issue and, until then, Swinton said she planned to hold on and hope for the best.

"Are they going to wait for something really bad to happen?"