Concerns raised by nursing staff about a recent patient death at Lions Gate Hospital’s ER are another stain on the idea of universal health care that will be there when we need it.
While we don’t know exactly what happened, it’s not the first time concerns about care in the local ER have been raised. Staff have also been voicing worry about severe nursing shortages at LGH for over a year, shortages which they say are impacting patient care.
Part of the problem comes down to demographics. Our population is rapidly aging and older people generally have more need of health care. At the same time, retirements among health care staff are happening more quickly than replacements can be trained. Because of our older population on the North Shore, those trends are exacerbated. COVID-19 has hastened burnout. And we'd bet our infamous housing costs aren't helping with recruitment.
Unfortunately, there are no quick or easy solutions. There are currently 30 funded but vacant job postings for nurses at Lions Gate's ER. The government has been making attempts to open more training positions for new nurses. The key will be to keep doing more of that, while also working to keep the nurses we have.
That last part of the equation is critical if our health care system is to hang on long enough for new nurses to be trained. It involves more intangibles that add up to nurses feeling respected and valued enough to stick around a little while longer when early retirement beckons.
In the meantime, a trip to the ER is bound to be a test of everyone's patience.
