Staff shortages at hospitals have some considering, or already allowing, health-care workers who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 to continue working even if they have symptoms.
Emergency room nurse Eram Chhogala said in an interview: “just in one shift, we had approximately 4 or 5 patients that had to be transfered to the ICU, because they were diagnosed positive and they were severely short of breath. Nurses are very drained. They are tired and stressed.”
Ontario’s Omicron surge with its crushing staffing shortages is leading some ottawa hospitals to consider a desperate measures asking covid positive staff even those with symptoms to work.
Infectious disease specialist Dr. Issac Bogoch said: “the alternative is having nobody. So like there is two bad paths forward and you are just trying to take the least bad path.”
Quebec announed a similar move last month. In Alberta, essential workers who have been diagnosed positive, like healthcare workers, are also allowed to work as hospitalizations continue to rise sharply across Canada.
“It’s very disturbing,” said Dr. Joe Vipond. “We have rises hospitalization that are truly exponential, more of the inpatient side than on the intensivist side. But still both are going to across the country in New Brunswick hospitalizations are at a record high. The province is projecting infections will soar more than 10-fold by the end of month.”
N.B. public health chief epidemiologist Mathieu Chalifoux said : “this will impact not only our health care system, but also other critical services such as fire departments, police departments. power services and so on.”
To ease the pressure in ontario, internationally trained nurses will now be allowed to work in overburdened hospitals and long-term care homes absenteeism right now.
Ontario health CEO Matthew Anderson said: “I would say this is really the big strain on the system.”
Chogalla helps to hold up every day. She said: “It is a real crisis. It is a harsh reality. The people on the outside they don’t look in but I can attest to that, because this is what we see on a daily basis.”
When asked that what kind of relief hospitals can expect from Ontario’s plans to bring foreign-trained nurses to work?
Resource: CBC News