Nurses’ Union Hopeful For Change

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/10/2021 (1151 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The intense pressure and near-impossible work conditions nurses have faced through the COVID-19 pandemic have long been a topic of conversation, but nothing comes close to being on the front lines or advocating for those who are.

As president of the Manitoba Nurses’ Union (MNU), Darlene Jackson is a voice for nurses in the province, negotiating with employers and the government on their behalf. According to Jackson, Manitoba nurses were already working under dire conditions when the pandemic hit.

“We’ve had a chronic nursing shortage for a very long time,” Jackson says, “but what started as a chronic shortage has turned into a critical shortage.”

She describes a “transformation to health care in Manitoba” that started several years ago, when the provincial government began moving programs from one hospital to another and anticipated that nurses involved in those programs would follow.

That wasn’t the case, she says, with some nurses wanting to stay within the communities they’d served for much of their careers and choosing to retire instead.

“There’s a shift that has been happening, with nurses saying, ‘My gas tank is empty, and I can’t keep this pace up,’” Jackson says. “We’ve seen more and more nurses retiring before they intended to.”

Jackson stresses there are at least 2,200 nursing positions in Manitoba that have not been filled. With hospitals receiving an influx of COVID-19 patients and a lack of beds, the shortage has nurses stretched beyond thin.

They’re taking on sometimes double the number of patients they normally would and are feeling frustrated and angry over not being able to provide the standard of care they want to, Jackson explains.

“I believe the care is still safe but there’s a huge difference between quality care and safe care.”
– Darlene Jackson
President of the Manitoba Nurses’ Union

“I believe the care is still safe but there’s a huge difference between quality care and safe care,” she says.

There’s also the mental and physical stress of taking on an excessive workload, worrying about their own health and safety and that of their families, not to mention seeing and experiencing the devastation of COVID-19 firsthand.

And then there’s getting up the next day and doing it all over again.

It’s a cycle that has forced nurses to bargain with employers for time off so they can have some semblance of work-life balance.

“It’s all about self-preservation right now for nurses,” Jackson says. “They’ll say, ‘I’ll stay and work a 16-hour shift today, but I can’t do it tomorrow.’ It’s absolutely shameful that nurses have to make a deal with their employers to not be mandated to work.”

It’s an environment that makes retaining and recruiting nurses tough.

“We need to keep as many of our experienced, longer-term nurses in the system as we can,” she says.

The mentorship that experienced nurses can provide to the new generation of nurses is invaluable. Without the lessons that only seasoned nurses can impart, Jackson fears that nurses early in their career may not stick around.

Manitoba also needs to improve its system to keep and attract nurses to our province, Jackson says.

In some cases, those nurses may already be here and working in a position that’s not what they trained for. The province has many internationally educated nurses, Jackson explains, though the complications and cost of becoming certified to practice in Manitoba can be a deterrent.

“We need to keep as many of our experienced, longer-term nurses in the system as we can.”
– Darlene Jackson
President of the Manitoba Nurses’ Union

“I have been saying very loud and clear, those individuals need to be at the bedside doing what they do,” she says. “If they need to have an increase in their level of education, you can’t just leave them passing breakfast trays.”

She’s worked with the provincial government to put forward a grant that can help internationally educated nurses become certified in Manitoba.

Furthermore, she’s also contributed to a tentative agreement that she believes will allow nurses to get back to providing safe and quality patient care, while addressing other challenges nurses have dealt with before and during the pandemic.

She notes that the government has a lot of work to do on its part—that those previously in charge didn’t include nurses in the decisions being made for them.

It’s been an uphill battle to affect change in Manitoba’s nursing system, but the driving force is hope and determination—from the nurses who chose and continue to choose a life of helping others, and those who support and advocate for them.