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April 2, 2001
Nurses at Riverview Hospital call for an end to toxic work environment
Nurses demand immediate action by the BC Mental Health Society to address their concerns for patient safety
Nurses at Riverview Hospital are at the end of their rope when it comes to getting the BC Mental Health Society (BCMHS) to pay attention to their concerns about patient safety.
Since July 1999, nurses have followed due process in documenting numerous patient safety concerns. Their attempts at getting management at the facility to hear them out have been fruitless to date. They have repeatedly requested the opportunity to voice their concerns directly to the publicly appointed Board of Trustees of the BCMHS. Each request has been denied.
"We are fed up with not being listened to - and we are demanding that the Board Trustees, who represent the interests of the patients at Riverview, their families and the public at large, understand the dire situation we feel patients are being put in. Patient safety is compromised on a daily basis and no one is prepared to do anything about it," says Stew Johnson, President of the Union of Psychiatric Nurses.
Riverview Nurses Rally
12:00 PM
Tuesday April 3, 2001
Administration Building, Riverview Hospital
500 Lougheed Highway |
Other stakeholders concur with Johnson. "To date we have received 100's of complaints from concerned nurses unable to maintain their practice standards at work. What this means is that their ability to provide safe patient care is being put in jeopardy," says Linda Moyneur, Chairperson of the College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of BC. "Who's to blame for this - not the nurses. They are providing the very best nursing care they can in a very toxic work environment, devoid of supportive leadership.
"The Riverview Nursing Stakeholders Group comprised of nurses from the Union of Psychiatric Nurses and the BC Nurses' Union, as well as representatives from the College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses, have also participated in recent independent Professional Practice Reviews commissioned by the Minister of Health. None of the recommendations from the reviews have been implemented, even though the Board of Trustees and management wholeheartedly committed to do so.
"Will it take the death of a patient to get the attention of the Board?," asks Jean Smith, BC Nurses' Union Executive Councillor. "Even our meeting with the Minister of Health - where we outlined our key areas of concern and asked that the team that conducted the reviews be brought back in to evaluate progress of the recommendations was of no avail. The Minister has not responded to our concerns.
"Nurses at Riverview can be silenced no longer and will impress upon the Board of Trustees on Tuesday to not only hear them out, but to act now to ensure that patients at Riverview receive the quality of nursing care they deserve.
For more information:
| Stew Johnson, President, Union of Psychiatric Nurses cell: |
318-7208 |
| Jean Smith, BC Nurses' Union, Executive Councillor cell: |
604-785-8156 |
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