Faced with the glaring lack of personnel, the intensive care unit is cracking up at the Suroît hospital in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. Intubated patients must be kept in the emergency room because the shortage of places is so critical.
“Currently, people who should be in intensive care are ventilated on respirators in the emergency room. We do not have enough staff in intensive care, ”denounces Mélanie Gignac, president of the Union of healthcare professionals of Montérégie-Ouest (FIQ-SPSMO).
“Four years ago, intensive care was practically full. There were 35 people on duty. Today they are 15″, illustrates Mme Gignac. “It’s the apocalypse. We are helpless in the face of the situation, ”she adds.
CISSS spokesperson Jade St-Jean confirms that the situation has been “very precarious in the last few days”. “In a unit like intensive care, where it takes special expertise, the balance is very fragile. We are really in action to find short-term solutions to support the teams, ”she explained to The Press.
To resolve the situation, an action plan was presented to the care teams on Friday afternoon. “A call has been made to encourage nurses who have experience in intensive care to come and lend a hand voluntarily on this unit,” said Ms.me St-Jean. The establishment also wishes to introduce auxiliary nurses and intensify supervision, support and training for the teams.
Employees leave the network
The shortage of personnel in the intensive care unit is flagrant. A minimum presence of five day nurses is recommended. Only two of them are on the schedule for this Saturday, says Mme Gignac. The hospital struggles to get enough care workers at night.
[Les employés du] evening shift must always do night shifts and the day shift must return earlier as well.
Mélanie Gignac, President of the Union of Care Professionals of Montérégie-Ouest (FIQ-SPSMO)
Compulsory overtime exhausts employees who are still on the job, denounces the president of the union. ” [Vendredi]a nurse who has been in intensive care for several years has taken a position elsewhere in the [CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest] just to leave intensive care. It’s not because she doesn’t like it anymore, it’s just to hang out,” she says.
She worries about the next few weeks. “The high season for colds, flus and gastrointestinal illnesses has not yet begun. How many healthcare professionals will make it through the winter and not quit? “, she wonders.
Recurring problems
The Suroît hospital faces recurring problems. In September, the union said it was no longer possible to “guarantee the safety of care” in the emergency room due to the shortage of manpower.
“What is happening is dramatic. We are faced with the sad demonstration that the management of the CISSS is no longer able to guarantee the safe care that the population is entitled to expect,” said the union’s interim president, Vanessa Léger.
In October, the emergency room had to temporarily close its doors to less urgent cases and diverted ambulances to a nearby hospital.
With the collaboration of Henri Ouellette-Vézina and Frédérik-Xavier Duhamel, The Press