Moncton doctors backfilled nurses after Dumont ER felt like 'war zone'

Seven doctors at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton stepped in to cover a nursing shortage in the emergency department over the weekend, an organizer of the effort says.

Cardiologist Dr. Luc Cormiercalled an emergency meeting of his colleagues after theVitalitHealth Networkannounced all ambulances would be directed to the Moncton Hospital because of a lack of staff at the Dumontemergency department.

The doctors decided totake turns working in the department to try to get full services running again.

Hospital employees have to help one another, Cormier told Information Morning Moncton on Wednesday.

• Patients stay in hallways as overcrowding persists at 2 N.B. hospitals

"We can and should step up when there is a very difficult situation somewhere," saidCormier, who is alsopresident of the council of doctors and dentists at the Dumont hospital.

Cormier said the hospital has been grappling with a nursing shortage in the ER for at least two years.

"Some people describe it almost as a war zone," he said. "We have patients everywhere."

Right now, the hospital would need tohire 15 nurses forthe emergency department to get the ER runningat 100 per cent, he said.

When asked why thenursing shortage was especially dire this past weekend, Cormier said he didn't know.

'We are not nurses'

Under the direction of nurses throughout last weekend, doctors collaborated with nursing staff to initiateand monitor treatments, provide assessments and take patient care notes.

"We are not nurses," Cormiersaid. "We don't have their skill set, but we certainly have a certain number of skills and competencies."

He said the emergency room was calm when the doctors started Saturday because they were only handling walk-ins. But as the weekend went on, the department became a lot busier.

'A sense of relief'

While some staff were surprised by the gesture of doctors volunteering to work as nurses, Cormier said there was also "a sense of relief" from staff because it's mentally difficult working in the ER with a nursing shortage.

"We wanted to of course stabilize our situation and get things rolling as fast as possible," he said. "Fortunately, that did happen."

No patients had to be transferred to Moncton Hospital and by Sunday evening, regular ambulance service had returned to the Dumont.

Cormier said he is hopefulsuch a nursing shortage won't occur again, but staff areworriedabout the summer, when more people taketime off.

"We are very anxious about the upcoming months," he said.

System 'crumbling,' union says

In 2019, the Horizon and Vitalithealth networks reported a need foran additional 520 registered nurses a year for the next five years.

Paula Doucet, the president of the New Brunswick Nurses Union,said she wasn't surprised by the lack of nurses in the hospital's ER.

"People are stepping up because they want to save the health-care system in New Brunswick when it's actually crumbling down around us."

She was tomeet with Premier Blaine Higgs and Health Minister Dorothy Shephard this week to talk about the nursing shortage and safer work conditions for nurses.

Nurses in New Brunswick are "beyond the point of exhaustion" and have been asking for some type of relief, she said.

Doucethas suggested amalgamating some services provided by the two health networks. She said the Dumont hospital, run by Vitalit, and the Moncton Hospital, a part of the Horizon network,arestruggling with a shortage of staff.

"What services can we deliver together and deliver well, rather than try to run two different services with skeletal crews and running the staff in the ground that are there," she said.

Vitalit's administration operates in French and Horizon's operates in English. Both are required by the Official Languages Act to be able to serve people in French or English.

Fewer French-speaking nurses

In a statement to CBC News, Vitalit said hospitals across the province are feeling the impact of a national nursing shortage, and recruiting efforts continue.

Nationally, there are also more English-speaking nurses than French, and nursing salaries are higher in French- speaking Quebec than in New Brunswick.

"We must be innovative in our solutions and pursue our goals according to the mission and vision of the organization," saidDr. France Desrosiers, president and CEO of Vitalit.

"It is always possible to strive for excellence in care, even in times of pandemic and human resource shortages."