To the Editor,
Re: Workplace safety a winner for VIHA, June 28
This safety award that VIHA has won is a difficult pill to swallow for nurses at NRGH right now. They are faced with losing nurses on any and every given shift while VIHA cuts them back. Nurses fear for the safety and outcomes of their patients and is the No. 1 stressor on their minds as the care delivery model is implemented.
Our communities should be concerned about the level of care they are going to receive as nurses become stretched even further. They are being replaced by care aides, who are an integral part of the care team, but are not specialized in nursing assessments and skills.
Allison Cutler may have deserved this award but as a whole VIHA doesn’t. I would ask that front-line staff at the affected sites be polled next year and see what they have to say then.
Jo SalkenNanaimo