Nurses overwhelmed by demand at Saskatoon hospital, union says

A scene of madness unfolded in a Saskatoon emergency room on Monday afternoon.

Some patients were receiving care in hallways, while mental health patients with law enforcement escorts lay on the floor of Royal University Hospital (RUH).

Tracy Zambory, president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses, said staffing was erratic and those working at the hospital were overloaded as they attempted to care for more than 50 people admitted and waiting for a bed while 100 patients were already in the emergency department.

“By the time 2 p.m. rolled around, only one patient had been moved out of emergency to go into the ward somewhere,” Zambory said.

The hospital was “hundreds of percentages over capacity,” Zambory said, adding she was receiving updates on patient numbers and happenings in the emergency room in real time from nurses who were there.

During the day, Zambory said the charge nurse at RUH was punched.

“It was mayhem,” Zambory said.

Unfortunately, Zambory said, such overcrowding and demand at RUH and other hospitals in the province is far from uncommon. The union head said staff at the hospital told her they weren’t sure if Monday’s situation was any worse than normal.

Zambory reported that capacity issues come up every day at RUH. She said there’s also been an increase in violent incidents in emergency rooms across Saskatchewan.

Nurses sometimes feel like quitting at the end of their shifts, Zambory said.

“They go home thinking, ‘I haven’t done enough. People are suffering,’ ” she said.

#Sask healthcare is a disaster. Anything to the contrary is inaccurate. RUH ER now: 100 patients waiting for care, 50+ admitted waiting for beds on the wards, patients in hallways on portable cardiac monitors with no supervision, short RNs this morning, again tonight. #skpoli

— SUNnurses (@SUNnurses) March 13, 2023

Paul Merriman, Saskatchewan’s health minister, responded to questions from the NDP opposition about the state of health care in the province during Question Period at the Saskatchewan Legislature on Wednesday afternoon.

Merriman said there will always be ebbs and flows in the health-care system, and those pressures have recently been seen in both Regina and Saskatoon.

The health minister said he’s been told by officials that some of the pressure has been alleviated, and referred to the government’s Health Human Resources Action Plan, which he said is bringing health-care professionals to work in Saskatchewan, as well as opening up more seats to continue training future health-care providers.

NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat said the situations in hospitals in Saskatchewan is not business as usual, and that’s why health-care workers are sounding the alarm. She said the province’s human resources plan is not enough.

Merriman offered assurance that the Saskatchewan government will always ensure that people in the province have the health care they need.

Sharon Chartier, a retired nurse, said she had a scary experience last month.

Chartier said she spent more than an hour waiting for an ambulance when she realized she needed care on Feb. 7. When she called for that ambulance, however, she said she was told there were no ambulances available to respond.

She said she lay on the floor and called her children, worried she wouldn’t get another chance to speak with them and fearing for her life.

“I was shocked that nobody was coming for me. I thought I could be dying,” Chartier said.

When she was finally picked up, Chartier said she was taken to City Hospital, where the ER was full. Paramedics there waited with her for more than an hour.

Chartier said she spent close to three hours waiting from the time she called paramedics until she was finally seen by a doctor.

“As a nurse, I started thinking, ‘What about people who are having heart attacks or strokes?’ ” she said.

She called the current state of health care in Saskatchewan “a house on fire,” and demanded help.

Merriman said Chartier’s experience was not acceptable, and not something anyone in Saskatchewan should expect. He apologized to her during Question Period and thanked her for her decades of work as Saskatchewan nurse.

The health minister also highlighted a 40 per cent reduction in the time spent by ambulances waiting at hospitals since December.

Speaking to media on Wednesday, Merriman said he appreciates the concerns brought forth by the union.

“We want to make sure the emergency room is being as efficient as possible,” he said.

While work is ongoing to improve health care in Saskatchewan, Merriman reiterated that sometimes emergency rooms will be extremely busy. During those times, he said he trusts clinicians will be able to triage patients as needed.

“I think there’s challenges but I think — I know — we’re working on those challenges,” he said.

On Tuesday, Merriman said more doctors have been hired, along with 72 more nurses, from the Philippines.

“I think we’re moving as fast as we possibly can,” he said.

He also shared that security is being upgraded at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon, as well as Regina General Hospital.

Similar issues with shortages and capacity concerns have been happening in rural parts of the province, too.

“I have heard these concerns,” Merriman said. “I recognize that they’re still there. We’re trying to get our human resource strategy in as fast as we possibly can.”

He said the past 18 months have seen 160 doctors hired, including 101 specialists and 59 family physicians.

Zambory said she wants to see a nursing task force set up immediately, to work on short-term solutions to the problems Saskatchewan hospitals are dealing with every day.

“I can’t think of a more specific issue than the crisis we have in the shortage of nurses and the profound effect that’s having on our health-care system,” she said.

Zambory said she’s been hearing from retired nurses who are willing to work casually and have reached out to help with the shortage, but are being ignored.

The union head said some nurses are going to casual hours because they can’t handle the environment anymore, and conversations are needed about how to persuade nurses to return to work on a full-time basis.

“We need to be able to talk with this nursing task force about mentorship and retaining those mid- to late-career registered nurses,” she said.

Zambory said the number of nurses coming from the Philippines to work in the province isn’t high enough to solve even the problems in Saskatoon. Further, she said, nurses arriving in Saskatchewan will be lacking mentorship, as many experienced nurses have retired or reduced their working hours.

“What we’re bringing in does not equal what we’re losing,” Zambory said.

While she understands the importance of not alarming people unnecessarily, Chartier said she feels people have a right to know what they can expect if they need medical help.

“Please, Health Minister,” Chartier said, “make it a priority.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick