Health Minister Demands Better Nursing Services

Ottawa, Canada (AHN) - With Nursing Week to start Sunday, more concern has been raised by the federal government and Canadians over what appears to be declining nursing care in the country. But nurses too are complaining of bullying and intimidation on the job.

A finding by the Ontario Health Coalition that care in nursing homes did not move at 2.85 hours per resident for the past three years has prompted Health Minister George Smitherman to order tougher controls be placed.

Canadians are demanding for better nursing services following the boost in funding for the sector by 52 percent since 2003 to the tune of $3 billion annually. Another $600 million are on the budget for nursing homes for the next three years, but recent nursing home horror stories have prompted a deeper look how the extra funds had been spent.

Wally Baker, a resident at Leisureworld Caregiving Center, died on April 30 due to a fall from an automated lift used for moving elderly patients from beds to chairs. Three days before, another resident, Florence Coxon was strangled by a strap on her wheelchairs.

The flipside to apparent inadequate patient care is the growing number of caregivers who have suffered abuse from the hands of patients and colleagues. Denise Koster, a workplace consultant, cited a survey she has conducted among 2,500 healthcare workers in Ontario hospitals and long-term care centers which showed 47 percent of them had experienced bullying, while another 65 percent said they have been intimidated on the job.

It include incidents of verbal or sometimes physical abuse from patients or family members who vent their ire on nurses especially those in pain or sorrow. However, a larger portion of the abuse comes from hospital managers and fellow nurses, Evelyn Kerr, the director of nursing clinical practice at the Ottawa Hospital told the Ottawa Sun.

Koster said medical institutions must offer a safe workplace for it to keep and attract nurses. She added, quoted by the Ottawa Sun, "Nurses have it engraved in their souls that they must treat the patients with dignity and respect but the nurses also deserve the same respect."