“Claring lack of staff” and “dangerous care for the population”: a nurse has just resigned from the CISSS de l’Outaouais to turn to the private sector for the rest of her career. Encouraged by her former colleagues, she wishes to highlight her experiences in Quebec hospitals.
What she describes as “inadequate” patient care was a determining factor in her decision to leave the public network for the private sector after six years.
“The care has become rubbish,” says the nurse who worked at the Hull hospital and who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.
She also fears that the lack of staff could have led to the death of certain patients. This is notably one of the determining factors in his decision to leave the public network for the private sector after six years.
And that’s without taking into account the working conditions resulting from the shortage of health workers, which also pushed her to turn her back on the network.
“It’s not human to work 16 hours repeatedly or to be asked for TSO all the time [temps supplémentaire obligatoire]. THE burnout are very present,” adds the one who was also in charge of the beneficiaries.
A nurse from Gatineau who resigned from the CISSS de l’Outaouais during her interview in Montreal, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Photo Agence QMI
QMI Agency
The nurse says that “many colleagues” have also made the decision to leave “because it is not safe either for them or for the patients”.
The Gatinoise woman therefore took her courage in both hands and launched a heartfelt cry to the Outaouais Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSSO) and the Ministry of Health.
“I really care about the population and healthcare. I love my job. It really pains me to leave, but it’s too dangerous. There are too many medical errors,” laments the 25-year-old woman.
The “hidden” reality
The nurse claims to have tried several times to speak to management to make changes, without success.
“No matter how much you cry wolf, they will rebury you. Management denies the cases [de patients négligés] caused by the lack of nurses. They say it’s going well. I’m on the ground, and I say it’s dangerous. It’s the lives of patients that are at stake,” she insists.
“It would really be time to expose reality and wake up because it’s going to be too late. If this continues, it’s okay crash. I don’t even understand why the Hull hospital is still standing. There are so many closed beds. The emergency is overflowing,” she illustrates.
The Gatinoise also maintains that the composition of the teams is “nonsense” and she now fears for the survival of the Hull emergency.
“A nurse can be alone on the floor, she can’t take a break or eat. She finds herself with around twenty patients. They replace nurses with nursing assistants. They will even rehire nurses who were fired because there are so many people missing,” she says.
“It seems that management has completely lost its sense of reason. We keep the hospital alive with numbers. Even I wouldn’t be hospitalized there,” she concludes.
144 nurses left last year
Asked to react, the CISSS de l’Outaouais confirms that it is facing a significant lack of staff, not only at the Hull hospital, but throughout Outaouais as well. Moreover, the CISSSO received 144 resignations from nurses in 2023-2024.
“This is a significant challenge in our region and it is an issue that we take very seriously. Our main priority is to maintain quality and safe care and services for our users, despite these challenges,” he said by email.
The CISSSO adds that “each problematic situation raised by [le] staff or any other person is taken very seriously, so that corrections are made without delay.
