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Nurses speak out against merger of paediatric and specialized care units at Guelph General Hospital

The hospital believes the merger will increase patient safety, while some nurses are concerned about the quality of patient care
20210413 Guelph General Hospital KA 01
Guelph General Hospital. Kenneth Armstrong/GuelphToday file photo

Concerns over patient care have led nurses at Guelph General Hospital to speak out against the hospital’s decision to merge their paediatric and specialized care unit.

In January the hospital began training paediatric nurses who have volunteered to learn about duties provided in specialized care, which focuses on highly specialized treatment for seriously ill infants. Currently, the hospital is working with two volunteers to provide education and hands-on training, says the hospital.

“Some of the nurses have worked in both areas before, and we’re really going to focus on training that is suited to that nurses needs,” says Melissa Skinner, the chief nursing executive at Guelph General Hospital, “Some nurses might need six weeks, some might need eight weeks and some might need more.” 

Each department at Guelph General contains around 20 nurses. Historically, Skinner explains the capacity of these two units has always fluctuated from empty to full, making it hard to properly staff both departments. 

By slowly providing this training, the program aims to integrate staff from both departments within two or three years.

“We want to go slow and give every nurse a chance to learn and grow in the new area and feel comfortable working there,” says Skinner, “It’s going to be very slow, but it’s a great investment for us.”

Vicki McKenna, the president of the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) says the nurses have been vocal about the issue in the past and are now sounding the alarm.

“They believe that there is risk to patient care, that this is a highly, highly skilled area for these nurses to be working in, and what goes along with that is the additional training and skills,” says McKenna.

She explains these nurses are being into a situation that they do not have the training or skills to care for, and at the same time, the nurses who are specialized in the special care area, may be assigned to patients who do not need that level of care.

As a result, McKenna says some nurses have decided to leave the hospital altogether.

“Some of them will, and I guess have already, chosen to leave because they don’t believe that kind of configuration benefits patient care,” says McKenna.

She adds the current pandemic isn’t helping the situation.

“We’re in the midst of this terrible, third wave situation that we have and so the resources are stretched at the best of times right now, let alone during this kind of a merger, which further stretches the ability for he nurses to care for people the way that they should be, and should be under the standards of care by the College of Nurses of Ontario,” she says.

“The crux of the problem is that there are not enough nurses, so their (the nurses) position is to then hire and train enough nurses to cover so that they meet the expectations of the community.”

“We’ve been discussing this plan off and on for many years,” says Skinner about the decision to train over hiring more staff, “The challenge is because the census goes up and down, we need to have people available really quickly that have the skills in order to respond.”

“The decision to cross-train and integrate the two teams will allow us to have a larger pool of nurses who are trained in both areas, so that they can support and help each other if one unit gets a little more busy, or more acute.”

In the months leading up to the decision, a petition shared by nurses against the integration of the two units gained over 100 signatures. They have also spoken with hospital chief executive officer Marianne Walker, but were unable to meet with the board of directors.

Now that these nurses are trying to make their concerns public, McKenna says they hope the community becomes aware of the situation and takes action.

“The community has a voice in these sorts of things and they should make their voices known,” says McKenna.

Skinner says she believes that in time the program will be successful. Since starting the training, more nurses have asked to participate in training.

“Patient safety is our top priority and I believe strongly that the integration of staff over time will improve patient care and safety,” she says.

“I believe that we’re going to have a program that we’re going to want to celebrate.”


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Ariel Deutschmann

About the Author: Ariel Deutschmann

Ariel Deutschmann is a feature writer and reporter who covers community events, businesses, social initiatives, human interest stories and more involving Guelph and Wellington County
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