Agreement resolves CDMR issues at Nanaimo General Hospital
A settlement agreement restoring a number of nursing positions lost under a new care model at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital is being greeted enthusiastically by local nurses, who are pleased at the prospect of once again trying to deliver safe patient care.
The agreement, negotiated with Island Health to resolve a Single Employer Policy Dispute filed in October 2013 by BCNU, substantially restores RN and LPN hours lost when Care Delivery Model Redesign was first introduced.
Under it, Island Health will increase RN baseline staffing at NRGH by 10 FTEs. Best use of the added RN hours is to be determined following a joint review of patient acuity and intensity to identify where they would be "most effective for patient care and staff needs".
Island Health also agrees to "regularize" into baseline staffing two temporary 12-hour night shifts added back prior to this agreement (4.3 FTEs). Island Health will also increase the current LPN float pool by an average of 30 hours per day, by regularizing casual relief hours and adding those hours to existing float pool positions.
BCNU campaigned against CDMR from the time it was announced in May 2013, based on concerns about negative impacts on safe care delivery. Nurses working under the new staff mix often found themselves in moral distress when they were unable to meet their standards and deliver care safely.
In return for the restored nursing hours, BCNU has agreed to withdraw the original SEPD grievance.
BCNU also accepts that the parties will "review and mutually agree which PRFs arising from staffing changes under CDMR are resolved by this process". Nanaimo nurses filed over 200 PRFs documenting situations where professional standards and patient safety were compromised by the new care model. Their unity and persistence has paid off and will be much appreciated by both nurses and patients in Nanaimo.
Where there are other facilities with staffing concerns related to baseline, BCNU intends to address these through the Nursing-Health Authority Committee (N-HAC).