Are things going to get worse at PRRH, before they get better?

The folks at Northern Health find themselves on the front page of the Daily News for yet another day, this time with a front page story that isn’t going to make people feel particularly content with the status of health care in Prince Rupert.

With a headline blaring that an OR nursing crisis looms at PRRH, the perception of a hospital at the breaking point, is one that most Prince Rupert residents might be on the cusp of pondering.

With the many concerns reported over the maternity ward and radiology departments in previous articles this week, the state of the local hospital’s staffing requirements seems to be something that should be immediately addressed by Northern Health, which at the moment seems to only be able to offer up the advice that they’re working on the situation, but have yet to find a way out of the hole they are in at this time.

The full Daily News article is provided below.

OR NURSING CRISIS LOOMS AT PRRH
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Friday, June 30, 2006
Page One

The nursing shortage at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital may get worse before it gets better as five operating room nurses are due to leave over the next six months. Northern Health is short 45 operating room nurses across the region.

“The questions we’ve heard lately are ‘am I going to be able to deliver my baby in Prince Rupert’ and ‘what’s happening with surgery, will I be able to get my surgery done here’,” said Sue Beckermann, Health Services Administrator for Prince Rupert and the Queen Charlotte Islands. “We’re doing everything we can to maintain that locally. We do have a plan to bring in new nurses and keep the ones we have.”

Several new mothers were recently impacted by a lack of maternity care after three maternity nurses left town. While that issue is in the process of being addressed – two floor nurses with maternity certificates have been moved over to fill part of the shortage – the looming local OR nurse crisis has Northern Health looking for innovative solutions to the problem.

”The only operating room course in B. C. is at BCIT and it’s a one-year to an 18-month course and people have to be down there the whole time,” she said. “You can imagine there aren’t very many takers (locally).

“What Northern Health is doing is working to establishing alternate programming to support us in the North, to allow our staff to get the certification without having to go to that extent.”

The health authority is currently looking at an on-line program out of Grande Prairie that provides the theoretical basis for an operating room nurse.

“We’ll provide ... the hands on experience if necessary, and we may be able to provide it in our home communities.” said Beckermann.

“We’re looking at whether we can develop that. At this time across Northern Health we have 45 vacancies in our ORs. Right now despite the crisis that we’re in, we’re far from being alone.”

With a new surgeon in town making better use of the operating room facilities, NH has also sunk $650,000 into surgical services at the hospital. Half a million of the funds are going to provide 24-hour around the clock additional nursing for the intensive care unit, beginning in July.

NH is also actively recruiting now in the hopes of providing flexibility and addressing some of the coming nursing moves before they happen over the next half year.