(Montreal) A dozen organizations demanded Friday that Quebec adopt a law to impose patient ratios in health care.
Posted at 12:47 p.m.
“There is no doubt that safe ratios must be a standard applicable everywhere,” said the vice-president of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), Jérôme Rousseau, at a press conference in Montreal.
“Our health system has significant problems, our staff is overworked and exhausted,” he explained. It is the patients, the clientele, the nursing staff and the caregivers who suffer from it. »
He gave the example of a nurse who finds herself with 150 patients in her care, and who “must choose the care she must provide”, since it is impossible for her to meet all the needs.
The representative of the Quebec Association of Nurses, Kenza Rahmi, for her part argued that the shortage of health personnel is not an excuse for not imposing ratios.
“It’s not a problem of shortage, but of retention of healthcare workers,” she said, explaining that the poor conditions create a vicious circle where more and more workers leave the field. Thus, according to her, the ratios are “a central solution to improving the network’s ability to attract and retain nurses”.
The FIQ, which is the instigator of this movement, published a plea online and invited organizations and individuals to join the list of signatories.
The latter currently includes the Quebec Association of Nurses, the Quebec Association of Gerontological Nurses, the Quebec Nursing Consultation and Influence Group, the Popular Education and community action of Quebec, Quebec doctors for the public plan, the Order of nurses and nursing assistants of Quebec, the Order of nurses of Quebec, Proche aidance Quebec, the FADOQ network and the Interprofessional grouping of retired health care workers. health.