A lot of support for around 100 nurses who rallied in Moncton during a Day of Action..
President of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions Linda Silas says, “It’s a small turnout but you have to realise the nurses are tired and burnt out. Some of them came straight from the nightshift and to rally in uniform.”
Silas says in New Brunswick there are around 900 vacant nurses positions, which has left others overworked, “That means you need about 1200 new nurses in the province. That’s a lot. You’re seeing a lot of retirees or close to retirement, that’s around 25 per cent saying I’m quitting, and we can’t let that happen. There is recruitment sessions and $10,000 if you want to go work in one of the healthcare facilities, but we need to find ways to retain the experienced nurses.”
She adds , “You can’t have a healthcare system without nurses and healthcare workers, “It will crumble. We are going to have longer wait times for surgeries and for specialized treatments. Our long term care sector is going to be in worse shape. We have no other choice, we have to fix this.”
Rallies and protests were held in communities across the country today, including Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton.
Motorists showed their support honking horns as they went by.
“They’re(the government) realising that they have a problem on their hand. The problem will go further than the collective bargaining process. We have to go back to what we were doing in that late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Retention programs and mentoring programs and nurse patient ration programs to ensure that they will retain nurses,”Silas says.
Nurses Day of Action in Moncton
(Photo:TDCB)
Nurses Day of Action in Moncton
(Photo:TDCB)
Nurses Day of Action in Moncton
(Photo:TDCB)
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