Fifteen ER nurses leave Ontario hospital citing overcrowding, safety issues, union says

Fifteen ER nurses leave Ontario hospital citing overcrowding, safety issues, union says ALANNA SMITH HEALTH REPORTER PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGO Open this photo in gallery: The Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital's emergency department had a 10 per cent resignation rate from June through early September, in line with industry standards, according to Halton Healthcare, which operates the hospital. SAMMY KOGAN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. More than a dozen emergency room nurses have resigned from a hospital in the Greater Toronto Area over the past two months, owing to unmanageable patient volumes and an unsafe work environment, according to a provincial union. Fifteen registered nurses have left their positions at the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, and a number of other nurses have limited their hours or not returned from leave, the Ontario Nurses’ Association said. The Oakville emergency department, which sees roughly 80,000 patients yearly, is now scraping to bolster its work force, the union said. ONA president Erin Ariss said the Oakville hospital has “turned its back” on its staff, who are experiencing burnout because of an unsustainable workload and frequent violence and abuse from patients. She said the hospital made matters worse by eliminating, earlier this month, unit assistants, who help with such tasks as transporting patients, cleaning equipment and stocking supplies. “They are overcapacity. They are underwater. They are being assaulted. They are being psychologically harmed by the workplace and then they remove all the support staff,” Ms. Ariss said. “It is overwhelming everywhere in Ontario, but particularly there.” The swath of resignations underscores a crisis playing out in EDs across the country, which are struggling to retain and attract staff because of severe exhaustion due to overcrowding and health-system dysfunction. Health care workers have stressed that bottlenecked EDs are putting patients at risk. Burnout driving Canadian emergency room doctors to reduce hours or leave the field, new study finds The Oakville hospital has been under scrutiny since 16-year-old Finlay van der Werken died in February, 2024, of sepsis and pneumonia after waiting more than eight hours for care. The van der Werken family filed a lawsuit last year against Halton Healthcare, which operates Oakville Trafalgar…