Sylvain Ducharme knows he’ll have his pick of jobs when he graduates from nursing school next year.
The 31-year-old auxiliary nursing student was one of about 200 people who came to the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital for its first ever open house Saturday.
“I just started my training, so I’m looking at my options,” Ducharme said. “It was interesting to see the hospital, and to speak with some of the people who work here.”
The hospital, like all others on the island, is suffering from a dire shortage of staff – particularly nurses. There are 200 nursing jobs open, as well as about 15 jobs for respiratory therapists. The hospital is also missing physiotherapists, nutritionists, social workers and radiology technicians.
The dangers of a staff shortage and an overcrowded ER were perhaps to blame when a man died in the hospital’s ER corridor in February. Quebec’s coroner is investigating the situation.
But despite the negative light the hospital suffered, Saturday was the hospital’s day to charm prospective employees and sell them on the benefits of working there. Hospital administrators were on hand to meet prospective employees, and to give guided tours of the facilities, including the hospital’s operating rooms.
Despite the problems incurred in February, hospital administrators say the situation has improved in recent months, especially after the Quebec government freed up spaces for 100 long-term care patients. That allowed 40 patients in the hospital to get treatment in long-term care centres, which freed up those beds for patients, so that they don’t have to get treatment in the emergency room.
“It has made a big difference,” said Luce Gagnon, the head nurse of the emergency room. “But there is still a staff shortage.”
Gagnon says she’s working with half the staff she needs. She has 65 nurses working, and is short another 65 nurses. She said that staff shortage is about the same in every hospital on the island.
Gagnon said because of the shortage, the staff is overworked, and patients have to wait longer for treatment. In the Intensive Care Unit, head nurse Martine Cloutier says she’s short 10 night nurses and 5 or 6 people working during the day. She says that means the ICU works with four beds less than its full capacity.
Gagnon said despite media reports, there are many good aspects to working in a hospital, and those benefits were highlighted to prospective employees.
“Of course, when you hear reports in the news, it sounds like there are difficult working conditions, and it’s true, but at the same time, this is a good place to work,” Gagnon said. “We have a good team, and there are great career paths and opportunities to learn and advance. It’s also a really good team, despite all the difficult conditions.”
oi pessoal, acabo de chegar por aqui...realmente não dá pra entender? acho que é protecionismo das ordens e sindicatos, o que atrapalha muito ossa vida né?. Bom, mas vai dar certo com certeza, Deus está no comando. Vi que vcs já estão com a entrevista marcada. muito bom, quero ver esse CSQ hein? bjokas. ótimo fim de semana=0) elen e cleber
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