Nurses at Royal Inland Hospital are continuing to ask for support from public as they work in challenging conditions on the front lines during a COVID-19 outbreak.
A nurse, who has asked to remain anonymous, says staff have been diligent and vigilant about wearing masks and personal protective equipment at the hospital for close to a year now.
The nurse was responding to concerns from two hospital patients who spoke publicly with concerns about a lack of mask wearing in areas of the hospital at certain times.
Several patients later came forward to tell NL News that, in their own experience, they always witnessed hospital staff wearing masks and other PPE as needed while they were in the hospital.
“If someone witnessed a nurse who did not have a mask on their face: were they walking from the break room to the nurse’s station to get a new mask? Had they sneezed into their mask and were walking to get a new mask?” this nurse told NL News.
The nurse pleaded that the hospital remains safe to go to saying the last thing any healthcare worker wants is for someone to be afraid to go the hospital if they need to.
“They’re safe there, and we’re doing everything in our power to keep them safe,” the nurse says.
“Please trust us… Please don’t let the negative chit chat that you hear in the community dampen your trust in us. We are all trying to get through this. We’re doing our best. We are mothers and fathers. We’re tired. We’re just trying to keep everybody safe,” the nurse continued, while holding back tears.
“The pots and pans have long stopped. The lawn signs at the hospital, they’re soggy and damp now. And people have forgotten about us. We feel very alone.”
As of today, the outbreak at RIH had grown to 91 total cases with 59 staff and 32 patients affected. One elderly patient has died, and 59 of those cases are active. The outbreak was first declared on Jan. 22 in surgical unit 6 South and has since spread to unit 6 North, which also happens to be the ward for COVID-19 patients.
While 59 staff are isolating after testing positive for the virus, an undisclosed number of other staff are in isolation after they were exposed, leading to a staff shortage and staff being brought to RIH from other communities in Interior Health.
The President of the BC Nurses Union, Christine Sorensen, told NL News that nurses are forced to burn vacation time to get paid if they get COVID-19. She says nurses with no more sick time have to use their vacation time or make a claim to WorkSafeBC.
