Campbellton palliative patients moved into different unit because of nurse shortage
Palliative care patients are being moved out of their separate unit into another unit of the Campbellton Regional Hospital because of a shortage of nursing staff.
The six palliative care beds are being moved to the geriatric-rehabilitation unit, making a total of 25 beds in that unit, said Gilles Lanteigne, president and CEO of the Vitalité Health Network.
"If we want to better utilize the staff that we have, we had to put them in a bigger unit," he said.
Although patients will be in private rooms, they will not have their own unit, and there will be less privacy for them and their families.
"There will be no other impact than having to move, and unfortunately not having the same facilities for the family," Lanteigne said.
The changes will be in effect until October, when the health authority will re-evaluate the situation.
"If we move them and regroup them we can better utilize the short staff that we have," he said.
The only other option would be to close down more beds at the northern New Brunswick hospital.
Health network 'making hard choices'
"We're juggling and we're making hard choices and unfortunately it's having an impact," he said.
The palliative care unit closed down earlier this year because of a staffing shortage resulting from illnesses and workers on leave of absence.
The hospital's obstetrics and pediatric units also closed for a week in June because of "a shortage of medical resources."
"We've been closing beds historically for every year, the numbers are relatively the same," he said.
"But when you compound the fact that we have a severe shortage of staff, we had to reorganize the units and regroup them. And unfortunately, it's a difficult choice to do."
Lanteigne said the problem is compounded because patients needing an alternative level of care, such as a nursing home, occupy about 45 per cent of the hospital's beds. This creates an additional burden on hospital staff.
"Unfortunately, there's no options for them," he said.
Province to release nursing strategy
New Brunswick's minister of post-secondary education, training and labour has promised a 10-year strategy to deal with the province's nursing shortage will be announced in the next few weeks.
Earlier this week, Trevor Holder said the strategy, developed with the Department of Health, will outline where New Brunswick needs to be in terms of nurses over the next decade.
Holder said he expects the province will need 1,300 new nurses over the next 10 years, based on the number of nurses leaving and the number of nursing students who are graduating.
But Lanteigne said the New Brunswick's health-care system needs a lot of changes to its primary care system at the same time that it tries to solve its staff shortages.
"If we can't ensure services that are secure, then we have to look at different options, and options we have not envisioned before."
