A dozen organizations and professional associations requested on Friday that Quebec enact legislation to impose the highest ratio of patients per health professional.
There is no doubt that safe ratios should be an appropriate standard everywheresaid the vice-president of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), Jérôme Rousseau, at a press conference in Montreal.
He encouraged organizations and individuals to add their signatures to the petition, which is available online.
Our health system has big problems, our staff is tired and exhausted, he explained. Patients, clients, nursing staff and carers suffer from it.
He gave the example of a nurse who found herself with 150 patients in her care, and who has to choose the care he should takebecause it is impossible for him to meet all needs.
” Our healthcare professionals no longer want to prioritize certain patient care over others. “
He recalled that the residents of CHSLD requires more and more intense care, while the available resources do not always adapt to this new reality. After the massacre that took place in these environments during the pandemic, the status quo is simply no longer tolerated by anyonehe begged.
Fight the scarcity
The representative of the Quebec Association of Nurses, Kenza Rahmi, for her part argued that the shortage of health personnel was not a reason for not imposing the ratios.
This is not a problem of shortage, but of retention of nursing staffhe said, explaining that poor conditions are creating a vicious cycle where more and more workers are leaving the farm.
So, the ratios are according to him a central solution to improving the network’s ability to attract and retain nurses.
Many nurses flee the ER because they are not safe.he gave as an example.
Mr. Rousseau added that was also caused by poor working conditions high number of disabilities in the health networkif for combustionor because of employees hurt yourself because too fast.
The right ratios
Coalition members did not provide figures on what would be a safe worker-to-patient-health ratio, as it varies widely from case to case.
This is why the president of the Quebec order of nurses, Luc Mathieu, called for the development oftools to determine the intensity of care for patientsand therefore the amount of work they represent.
The head of external communications for the Quebec Nursing Consultation and Influence Group, Claire Thibault, also stressed the importance of a strict mechanism to adjust the ratios based on customer needs.
So far, the signatories to the plea are the Interprofessional Health Federation, the Quebec Association of Nurses, the Quebec Association of Gerontological Nurses, the Quebec Nursing Consultation and Influence Group, the Popular Education and Community Action Movement of Quebec, Quebec Physicians for the Public Regime, the Order of Nurses and Auxiliary Nurses of Quebec, the Order of Nurses of Quebec, Proche aidance Quebec, the Réseau FADOQ and the Interprofessional Grouping of Retired Health Services Workers.
Source: Radio-Canada
