Nurses forced to stay home because of a COVID-19 diagnosis or out of caution because they were unwell are increasingly having to burn their vacation time in order to get paid.
BC Nurses Union President, Christine Sorensen, says on top of the burnout that many nurses are experiencing, if they get COVID on the job they have to use their sick time.
“Many nurses don’t really have sick time. If you are a casual nurse you don’t have a sick bank so you have nothing to fall back on” she said on the NL Noon Report. “Nurses have been using their sick bank because they have had to stay home any time that they may have had any signs of illness.”
For those nurses with no more sick time, using up their vacation time or making a claim to WorkSafeBC are the only options left.
“This is becoming more and more of a problem as nurses have been facing this pandemic as we know for over a year” Sorensen added. “There is some coverage under what they call COVID pay but that’s really only for a very short period of time when you are in the waiting period to find out if you actually test positive.”
“Once a nurse tests positive they’re to use their sick time.”
She says employers should extend COVID pay for the entire time that nurses are off due to a COVID diagnosis, adding the problem is especially acute in communities where there have been larger outbreaks.
“We have a large outbreak at Royal Inland Hospital right now [which is up to 71 cases]. There are a large number of people who will not be able to go to work for a considerable period of time – 14 days at a minimum – and some may have side effects that keep them off work longer,” she said.
Speaking to media on Wednesday, Interior Health’s Vice President of Pandemic Response, Karen Bloemink, says they’re managing to cover off shifts for now.
“We’re paying close attention to that going forward and we do have plans in place to bring staff in place from other areas if the need arises,” she said.
New data from the BC Centre for Disease Control shows there were a record 124 cases of COVID-19 in the Kamloops Local Health Area for the week of Jan. 17 to 23, breaking the old record of 97 from the week before.
Presumptive legislation passed last year means if a nurse or other healthcare worker gets a COVID-19 diagnosis, they will not have to prove they acquired it on the job to have a claim to WorkSafeBC accepted. But Sorensen says members have been telling her they’re getting pushback from WorkSafeBC.
“I am now hearing that nurses are being challenged on that claim or its being suggested that they didn’t pick it up on the job, but in the community” she noted. “It really is a difficult situation because nurses who are facing all the same issues that members of the public are having with family members losing employment, paying for childcare, elder care, and just paying bills.”
National surveys conducted in the fall show between 75 and 80 per cent of nurses indicated they were experiencing burnout.
Sorensen says she thinks it’s important for nurses to take vacation to avoid burnout as they’re exhausted, they’re physically ill and mentally ill after dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic on the front lines for a year.
Kamloops Medical Health Officer, Dr. Carol Fenton told reporters this week that staff at the hospital have been stressed since the pandemic was declared.
“They have been working very hard under unprecedented conditions requiring them to wear PPE that is uncomfortable all day,” she said. “They deserve and appreciate and need our community’s support right now.”
(Photo via BC Nurses Union)
