A resourcing crisis means nurses at Christchurch Hospital’s emergency department are scared patients will die or be permanently harmed in an avoidable incident as they put it to the Health Minister to provide immediate action.
Christchurch is just one ED in New Zealand in crisis, with departments at hospitals around the country experiencing regular shortages of both beds and staff, resulting in it reaching "code black" capacity.
If you a nurse or patient who has been affected and are willing to speak, please contact our reporter Corazon Miller at corazon.miller@tvnz.co.nz
Three nurses from Christchurch Hospital, Tania Thompson, Keziah Jones, and Lisa Geddes, told Breakfast this morning that the lack of resources meant their ED was definitely in “crisis”.
“They're scared that something is going to happen on their shift, they’re scared for the safety of the staff and the patients, and they don't want an event to happen on their shift,” Jones said.
“We're absolutely overwhelmed, staff are burnt out, staff are exhausted, we are frustrated that we're not being listened too, that no one's taking us seriously. We're concerned that there is going to be a sentinel event, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when,” Geddes added.
The lack of both nurses and beds made turning up to work scary, Thompson said.
“It's very scary, especially for us. Turning up to work, not knowing what's going to happen, seeing patients in the corridor, not being able to provide adequate care, just being rushed,” Thompson said.
“Seeing patients in the corridor with no monitoring on who you know need monitoring but just no spaces in those cubicles, for the adequate care.
“Seeing the 90-year-old person in the waiting room knowing that it’s going to be up to four hours before they get a bed because we don’t have any beds in the department, a mother with a small child, those sort of situations we see and we wouldn’t want that for our family but we can’t do anything about it.”
A ratio that at times balloons out to five or six patients to each nurse meant staff were burnt out and the care was compromised.
“We want to give the best we can to them and the pressure is not allowing us to deliver that care, we feel like we can't give the best we want to give, and we're all there to give the best care we can, and the pressure is stretching us too thin,” Jones said.
Overwhelming workloads and a shortage of beds have left staff so exhausted they’re leaving. (Source: Other)
“They're scared that something is going to happen on their shift, they’re scared for the safety of the staff and the patients, and they don't want an event to happen on their shift.”
Jones put the state of New Zealand's health system in stark terms as she pleaded for immediate action from Health Minister Andrew Little.
“I’ve been an ED nurse for 20 years and I think I’m pretty good at recognising a patient who’s in crisis. Our health system, if it was an in-patient that worked into my ED today, I would be triaging it as a triage one, I’d be calling a crash code, we need urgent, immediate attention. My message for Andrew Little, we need to act now, the health system is critical, we need action, we need it today,” she said.
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