BCNU Update Magazine October 2013 by BC Nurses' Union

OCTOBER 2013

CDMR RED ALERT: TURNING UP THE HEAT ON ISLAND HEALTH

BCNU ADVOCATES WELLSPRING CONFERENCE: FOR MENTAL ENCOUNTERS WITH TRAUMA, HOPE AND HEALING HEALTH SERVICES

UPDATE BRITISH COLUMBIA NURSES’ UNION

RPNs ARE MOVING TO BCNU

CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS PULL-OUT

WWW.BCNU.ORG

“NOT QUALIFIED” SURREY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL NURSES Gail Conlin, Swaranjit Dhillon and Doreen Fleming.

Displaced nurses with decades of experience are being denied access to vacancies they are more than qualified to fill. BCNU members and stewards are fighting back.

Working with our communities for safe patient care

Promoting quality healthcare through SAFE STAFFING BCNU is proud to once again be a sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure

Join the BC Nurses’ Union team today! Join BCNU’s team at the 2013 CIBC Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Run for the Cure – run, walk, donate or volunteer to show your support. BCNU members, their families and allies are encouraged to sign up to join the BC Nurses’ Union CIBC Run for the Cure multi-site team on Sunday, October 6, 2013. This year’s BC run locations are Abbotsford, Kamloops, Kelowna, Nanaimo, Prince George, Surrey, Vancouver, Vernon and Victoria.

Registration To register as a member of the BC Nurses’ Union team, visit runforthecure. com. Click on “Location”. Pick your location, then join a team and choose the team name: “BC Nurses Union” (note: no apostrophe).

UPDATE MAGAZINE October 2013

UPDATE

VOL 32 NO 4

•

OCTOBER 2013

CONTENTS

UPFRONT

Check In News and updates from events around the province.

12 Beating Bed Bugs

Vancouver Coastal community nurses take the pests in stride.

14 Red Alert

Island Health provides no evidence to support its CDMR claims.

16 Encounters with Trauma

Wellspring Conference organizers bring health professionals together.

17 Bringing RPNs Together

Mental health issues a top priority for RPNs signing BCNU cards.

DEPARTMENTS

VANCOUVER PRIDE St. Paul’s Hospital RN and BCNU LGBT Caucus member Anna Fritch at this year’s parade.

5 PRESIDENT’S REPORT 24 MEMBER PROFILE 25 LETTERS 27 BOOK REVIEW 28 HEALTH AND SAFETY 30 YOUR PENSION 31 STAFF PROFILE 32 COUNCIL PROFILE 33 WHO CAN HELP? 34 OFF DUTY

FEATURE

“NOT QUALIFIED”

Displaced nurses with decades of experience are being denied access to vacancies they are more than qualified to fill. BCNU members and stewards are fighting back. COVER PHOTO BY CHRIS CAMERON

Constitution and Bylaws special pull-out page 18.

4 BC Nurses’ Union

an activism of the heart and mind an activism of our hands and feet everyday acts of kindness and care these are the hallmarks of what we do

Rights

UPDATE MAGAZINE

OUR MISSION STATEMENT BCNU protects and advances the health, social and economic well-being of our members and our communities. BCNU UPDATE is published by the BC Nurses’ Union, an independent

as members of BCNU

Canadian union governed by a council elected by our 40,000 members. Signed articles do not necessarily represent official BCNU policies. EDITOR Lew MacDonald

Practice

CONTRIBUTORS Juliet Chang, Sharon Costello, David Cubberley, Gary Fane, Monica Ghosh, Katharine Kitts, Courtney McGillion, Debra McPherson, Catherine Pope

& collective inspiration in a broader exploration

on December 2nd join your colleagues for thoughtful conversation

PHOTOS David Cubberley, Monica Ghosh, Lew MacDonald, Doug Payette, Catherine Pope

Activism

BCNU Communications Department 4060 Regent Street Burnaby, BC, V5C 6P5 PHONE 604.433.2268 TOLL FREE 1.800.663.9991 FAX 604.433.7945 TOLL FREE FAX 1.888.284.2222 BCNU website bcnu.org EMAIL EDITOR lmacdonald@bcnu.org

of social justice activism and you

MOVING? Please send change of address to membership@bcnu.org. Publications Mail Agreement 40834030 Return undeliverable

BCNU Human Rights & Equity Conference December 2, 2013 Hyatt Regency Vancouver

Canadian addresses to BCNU, 4060 Regent Street, Burnaby, BC, V5C 6P5

Application form available at bcnu.org or check your union notice board 888

UPDATE MAGAZINE October 2013

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

DEBRA MCPHERSON

BCNU IS PART OF THE COMMUNITY

PHOTO: CHRIS CAMERON

VERY SUMMER I MAKE A SPECIAL EFFORT TO TRAVEL TO AS many of our members’ worksites as possible, meet with them first-hand and listen to the concerns they have for their practice and their profession. It’s important for me to keep in touch with the community of members that makes our organization as special as it is. At the same time, I was honoured to see how much the public respect and value the work our members do. I was on hand at many community events from Victoria Day to Labour Day as the BCNU campaign bus crisscrossed the province. As I watched our members provide free blood pressure and glucose testing, and participate in parades and rallies, it was clear to me that BCNU is a respected organization that truly is part of the wider community. This is a credit to us all. Now, with summer coming to an end, I find myself travelling the province once again this year as we prepare for the next round of provincial bargaining in 2014. Regional Bargaining Conferences are being held through November, and BCNU’s Executive Director Gary Fane and I will be listening closely to members concerns to determine our bargaining priorities. Bargaining surveys have also been sent to all members covered by the Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) Provincial Collective Agreement. This includes our new LPN members who have moved from the Facilities Bargaining Association contract, and who will be part of NBA negotiations for the first time. Be sure to fill out your survey. Your feedback will be critical for guiding BCNU’s discussions with health authorities and government on ways to improve your quality of work life and your nursing practice conditions.

If ever there was a time to draw on the strength of community, it’s now. Although we are preparing for bargaining next year, several issues arising out of the last set of negotiations have yet to be resolved. And it’s vital for our future bargaining efforts that employers take our contract rights seriously. When meeting with members this summer it was clear they are angry that health employers are thumbing their noses at the new NBA contract. They’re coping with heavy workloads and still working short. They’re putting in 37.5 hours per week, but still don’t have safe staffing. All the while their employers continue to displace nurses. And we are fighting back. The union has taken legal action on safe staffing issues and we have filed grievances at every health authority. In the meantime, it’s important that nurses use the new safe staffing language to compel employers to replace nurses on leaves, vacations and short-term absences from acute and long-term care facilities, call in more nurses when patient demand exceeds normal capacity, and ensure that community nurses are replaced for a minimum of two weeks when they are on vacation. Safe staffing toolkits have been mailed to members across the province with material that will help remind you of these rights and assist you in fighting for safer care at your worksite. Wear and encourage others to wear the kit’s clip-on cards to show managers and others that you know your rights, and that you have the power to make a difference for safe care and safer staffing every day. And don’t forget to take a moment to visit the BCNU website and view our new animated videos that illustrate when and how the new safe staffing rights apply. As a community of dedicated professionals, we can work together to reach our bargaining goals and support our common interest. Talk to your steward about any concerns you have in your workplace. We can make a difference and the new NBA contract gives us the power to do it! UPDATE

6 NEWS FROM AROUND THE PROVINCE

CHECK IN ADVOCATING FOR MENTAL HEALTH

HEN THE FRASER HEALTH AUTHORITY announced it was phasing out evening mental health clinics starting September 1, the timing could not have been worse. Mental health issues were in the news after Vancouver police chief Jim Chu and Mayor Gregor Robertson declared that mental health issues in their city had reached a crisis level, and called on the province to make major investments. BCNU President Debra McPherson took the opportunity of an invitation from the City of Burnaby to address a September 9 council meeting and explain what the cuts will mean for residents of Burnaby and other cities in the FHA. She told councillors that six centres will be impacted by the new changes, including the Tri Cities, Surrey, New Westminster, White Rock and the outpatient mental health clinic at Burnaby General Hospital, and explained that the cuts mean patients will no longer have access to services past 4:30 in the afternoon, the very time when many working individuals often have to utilize those services. “While Fraser Health insists cutting out the evening programs will allow for better service during the day, community nurses who work on the front lines each and every day, are certain this will result in a large group of people falling through the cracks,” she said. McPherson reminded councillors that ten years ago Burnaby used to have two excellent day programs that served a large number of people in the community living with mental illness, and how their virtual elimination has put pressure on the outreach clinic at Burnaby General Hospital. “Nurses who are struggling to treat 70 patients are being told by the FHA that they should limit their visits to once a month, for only half an hour,” said McPherson. “Treating patients with mental illness takes more than monthly, 30 minute sessions – nurses know this and we all worry about the long-term damage this will have on patients,” she said, noting that the Canadian Mental Health Association ranks Burnaby second, next to Surrey, when it comes to the number of people suffering from mental illness. McPherson called on Burnaby to advocate for resources as much as possible. “We all need to push the health authorities and provincial government to provide for a level of care which can stand up to the daily demands and needs of people living with mental illness,” she said. UPDATE

GOODBYE ART!

WELCOME CATHERINE!

This summer BCNU bid farewell to our senior communications officer Art Moses. Art came to BCNU after a career working in radio at the CBC. Over his 17 years with the union he served as editor of Update magazine, coordinator of our communications department and as our media relations specialist. Art’s wisdom and strategic communications talents will be sorely missed. We all wish him happiness in his retirement.

BCNU is pleased to welcome award-winning TV journalist Catherine Pope to our communications department. A seasoned news reporter, Catherine comes to the union from Global TV’s Vancouver office. She is now responsible for BCNU’s media relations efforts and is looking forward to meeting and working with union members and leaders. Feel free to contact Catherine at cpope@bcnu.org.

VITAL SIGNS

Numbers that matter

New ﬁgures on absenteeism rates and overtime clearly indicate that nursing workloads have reached a point that are not safe or acceptable. Statistics, compiled for the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions from Canada’s Labour Force Survey by Informetrica Ltd., show that in 2012 Registered Nurses and nurse supervisors working in the healthcare and social assistance sector worked well over 21.5 million hours of overtime.

18,900 NUMBER OF CANADIAN RNs ABSENT from work in any given week due to own illness or disability.

6.6

hours AVERAGE WEEKLY OVERTIME worked by over 1/3 of Canadian nurses. Unchanged since 2010.

$746.5 million

TOTAL COST OF PAID OVERTIME IN 2012 Up from $660.3 million in 2010.

UPDATE MAGAZINE October 2013

4060 REGENT STREET BURNABY, B.C V5C 6P5

2576112

IMPORTANT

BARGAINING 2014 SURVEYS ARE IN THE MAIL. COMPLETE YOURS TODAY!

BARGAINING

SURVEY ENCL

OSED

Jane Smith 1243 Production Way Burnaby, BC V6P 5C5

Preparations for next year’s round of provincial bargaining are underway. All members across the province covered by the NBA and FBA collective agreements will receive “Bargaining 2014” surveys in the mail. Look out for yours to provide feedback on important key issues and tell us your priorities for bargaining. Completed surveys must be returned no later than October 21.

MAKING NEWS

BCNU in the headlines

CALLING OUT ISLAND HEALTH ON ITS CDMR CLAIMS

When Island Health’s director of Care Delivery Model Redesign, Robyne Maxwell, said that the health authority’s new care model that replaces regulated nurses with care aides would “make nurses feel the value in their job again,” BCNU’s Pacific Rim region chair Jo Salken spoke last September 16 with Victoria’s Times Colonist newspaper to correct the record. “It’s clearly impossible for a single nurse to oversee a care team serving 12 patients while meeting professional standards,” said Salken. “If nurses are unable to assess patients within at most one hour of surgery, signs of things going wrong are bound to be missed.” Salken told the paper that changes made as result of CDMR will result in delays in administering medications, failure to complete daily head-to-toe patient assess-

ments, inability to respond promptly to patient calls and inadequate charting of patient conditions. CALLING FOR EVENING MENTAL HEALTH CLINICS

When Fraser Health Authority announced the end of evening service at six mental health clinics across the region, BCNU Simon Fraser region co-chair Debbie Picco spoke with radio station CKNW. “There are going to be many mental Jo Salken health patients out there who are not going to be able to access care. We will see more people with escalating mental health issues, and with the services gone, we really can’t predict how serious their situation will become,” said Picco. “We know that people with mental health issues are more active and receptive later in the day. We would rather see Fraser Health standardize care and keep these clinics open in the evening throughout the health authority.”

SHARING RESOURCES Human Rights and Diversity Caucus chair Mabel Tung and Robin Bolton, Geriatric Nurse Consultant at Royal Jubilee Hospital, staffing the booth at Victoria’s ﬁrst Diversity Health Fair.

CELEBRATING DIVERSITY

THE BCNU WORKERS OF COLOUR CAUCUS CO-HOSTED Victoria’s first Diversity Health Fair, held September 8 at the Bayanihan Community Centre. Organized by BCNU’s Workers of Colour Caucus in cooperation with three local organizations – the Victoria Filipino Canadian Association, the Victoria Filipino Canadian Caregivers Association, and the Victoria Filipino Canadian Seniors Association – the fair attracted hundreds of attendees who took in displays and handouts on everything from a healthy diet to creative dance by way of reflexology and diabetes management. The Diversity Health Fair is a venue where the multicultural community can access information about health resources and healthy living ideas and services they otherwise have difficulty accessing due to language barriers. UPDATE

TIME FOR ACTION ON RURAL ER CLOSURES BCNU members who work in rural emergency departments want to engage in a number of different strategies to keep their ERs open 24 hours per day, seven days a week. This was the finding of a recent needs assessment survey conducted by BCNU’s Rural Emergency Service Working Group. The group is made up leaders from all of BCNU’s regions and was formed when members passed a resolution at this year’s Convention calling for BCNU to lobby for rural ERs. BCs rural emergency departments have been struggling with ongoing cutbacks, service reductions and closures, and there is signifi cant community opposition to these cuts in many rural areas. A Rural Emergency Department Lobby Kit will be developed this fall and will include information on how to conduct campaigns.

CHECK IN

LGBT RIGHTS

TAKING ACTION WHEN RIGHTS ARE AT RISK

PROMOTING RECONCILIATION Front row (l-r), Marlene Goertzen, Alison Stockbrocks, Lisa Walker, Katrina Relova and back row, Rhonda Bennett and Jonathan Karmazinuk at the September 22 Walk for Reconciliation. BCNU members braved torrential rain with some 70,000 others at the downtown Vancouver event.

WALKING FOR RECONCILIATION

BCNU MEMBERS JOINED WITH AN ESTIMATED CROWD OF approximately 70,000 British Columbians in the pouring rain in Vancouver for the September 22 Walk for Reconciliation. Members of BCNU’s Aboriginal Leadership Circle (ALC) took part in the historic event organized to build a stronger relationship among Aboriginal peoples and all Canadians. “Marching together, sharing songs and dances from the different nations and hearing the stories of people that went to residential school are each a part of the healing process,” said BCNU Aboriginal Leadership Circle Chair Michelle Martinson as she walked the two kilometer route. “The ALC is grateful to all the nurses who showed up for the walk – it reinforces the importance of reconciliation and why nurses and Canadians of all ages, all backgrounds, all faiths and cultures need to reflect on their relationship with Aboriginal peoples.” The BCNU Aboriginal Leadership Circle was established to provide a safe space for members who identify as aboriginal to address the historic and systemic discrimination faced by First Nations, Inuit and Métis people. The BCNU campaign bus was also on hand at the post-walk celebration with nurses performing free blood pressure and blood glucose testing for the public. The Walk for Reconciliation was organized by Reconciliation Canada, a charitable project born from the vision of Chief Dr. Robert Joseph, Gwawaenuk Elder, and established as a collaboration between the Indian Residential School Survivor’s Society (IRSSS) and the Tides Canada Initiatives Society (TCI).

PHOTO: KATH-ANN I AM EQUAL PHOTO CAMPAIGN

HEN NORTH VANCOUVER’S KATH-ANN TERRETT heard the media stories about Russia’s recently-passed anti gay laws that are putting gays and lesbians at risk and diminishing their human rights she headed straight to her computer. By the time she was finished she had written letters to over 300 of Canada’s Members of Parliament asking them to speak out. “All of us need to take action when laws take away peoples’ rights to simply be loving and affectionate with their partner,” says Terrett. “A very real consequence in Russia has been to send a message to thugs and hooligans that abusing and attacking gays is OK, because they are second class citizens.” Terrett, who is chair of BCNU’s Coastal Mountain region, was not content with just soliciting responses from Canada’s parliamentarians (she has received over 80 responses so far). She’s also taken her concerns to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics sponsors and written to the top executives of Coca-Cola, VISA and McDonald’s. She says she may even close her lifelong Royal Bank account if the bank, also an Olympic sponsor, doesn’t show some visible support RIGHTS DEFENDER Coastal Mountain Chair Kath-Ann Terrett is taking her for human rights or say opposition to Russia’s anti-gay laws something publicly against directly to the corporate sponsors of the the discriminatory actions Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. of the host country. Russia’s new laws even threaten to take children away from their gay and lesbian parents. Organizations and individuals who are fighting back within Russia are being intimidated, threatened and censored at almost every turn. Russian activists still want people to come to their country but they want them to be “loud and proud” and encourage their own country’s leaders to speak out about the repression and abuse these laws promote. Human rights organizations around the world are hopeful that collective actions will make a difference. One such group, All Out, says that, “as a direct result of the global pressure, UK Prime Minister David Cameron agreed to raise the anti-gay laws with Russia’s President Putin face-to-face.” When asked why one busy nurse in British Columbia should take on an issue like this, Terrett was clear: “Because our brothers and sisters are suffering, and if we sit idly by all of our rights are at risk, ultimately everyone will be affected.” UPDATE

UPDATE MAGAZINE October 2013

SAFE STAFFING CAMPAIGN

KNOW THE CONTRACT. RACT. S. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. BCNU’s Education Department develops tools for taking action on workload

DUCATED MEMBERS MAKE for a strong, effective union. And as BCNU enters the next round of bargaining, it’s important that members understand the powerful contract provisions that were gained during the last round of negotiations to address workload issues. Members across the province are just starting to make these new contract provisions a reality. They’re being vigilant and assertive – and filing grievances if their employers are not following the new replacement language in the Nurses’ Bargaining Association contract, and failing to provide backfill whenever acute and long-term care nurses are off from a shift (to give just one example). BCNU’s Education Department has been front-and-centre in helping support stewards and members in their efforts. This spring the department led a series of province-wide steward training workshops to ensure that the union is ready to assist members in truly making a difference to improve workloads and nurses’ ability to provide quality care. This summer, the Education Department

rolled out a our series of four animated at videos that illustrate when he new and how the SHOW AND TELL acement NBA replacement BCNU’s Safe Staffing h language rights campaign “Rights apply. And this fall, a Cards” are attached series of quick refer- to a retractable for members ence “Rights Cards” lanyard to wear at work and were mailed to all remind them of the members. Attached replacement language to a retractable lan- gains. They also help show employers that yard for members members know their to wear at work, rights. the cards remind them of the replacement language gains – and help show employers that members know their rights. Stewards are encouraging members to wear their Rights Cards at work and use them to engage and educate nurses at the worksite. The Education Department will be promoting its next safe staffing action tool this fall: an interactive contract interpretation infographic that will offer in-depth information on the replacement language to help nurses manage their workload and ensure a safe work environment for everyone. Be sure to log into the BCNU website Members’ Portal to access these and other Safe Staffing campaign materials. UPDATE ANIMATED VIDEOS produced by BCNU’s Education Department illustrate when and how the new NBA replacement language rights apply. View the videos at www. bcnu.org and on BCNU’s YouTube channel and Facebook pages.

OVERCAPACITY PROTOCOLS RESEARCH UNDERWAY PARTICIPATE TODAY! ARE YOU INTERESTED IN COLLABORATING with academic researchers in helping to identify innovative and effective uses of overcapacity protocols at your worksite? BCNU is encouraging nurses who work at Vancouver General Hospital, Surrey Memorial Hospital, Royal Columbian Hospital, St. Paul’s Hospital or Mount St. Joseph’s Hospital to participate in a new study that will measure the impact of Overcapacity Protocols (OCP) on safe and quality care provision within nurses’ work environments. To date, most OCP research has been done in the US and in EDs only. And no research exists that specifi cally examines OCP with respect to nurses’ work environments and nurse and patient outcomes. This will be the fi rst Canadian study to look at OCP in EDs and other acute care settings, and study results could inform healthcare policy and practice both nationally and internationally. This project is a practice-academic research collaboration between University of British Columbia (UBC) health services researchers and practice-based leadership from the three Metro Vancouver health authorities. Starting in October, project researchers will be conducting nurse focus groups and nurse surveys in EDs, general medical and general surgical areas in each hospital. The following hospitals are included in the survey: Vancouver Coastal Health: Vancouver General Hospital Fraser Health Authority: Surrey Memorial Hospital, Royal Columbian Hospital Providence Health Care: St. Paul’s Hospital, Mount St. Joseph’s Hospital Interested? Look for ﬂyers in your units for more details or contact Research Director, Dr. Khristine Carino at khristine.carino@ubc.ca

10 2

COMMUNITY EVENTS

ACROSS THE PROVINCE The BCNU Campaign Bus crisscrossed the province this summer, with the union on hand at many community events from Victoria Day to Labour Day. BCNU members provided free blood pressure and blood glucose testing and participated in parades and rallies. BCNU President Debra McPherson attended many of these activities and was grateful for the opportunity to meet with so many members one-on-one. “It’s clear that our members love their communities, and it was wonderful to see how much the public respect and value the work our members do,” she says.

Do you have a picture from a community event you’d like to share? Send it to photos@bcnu.org and we might use it in a future issue of Update Magazine.

1. Blood Pressure and blood glucose testing in Castlegar August 31, Jessie Renzie monitors a member of the public while West Kootenay chair Lorne Burkart looks on. 2. Vancouver Pride August 4, (l-r) Alida Fernhout (white shirt), Simon Fraser Steward Liaison Jereme Bennett and Kevin Sargent at the BCNU booth. 3. Members ﬂy the ﬂag at Vancouver Pride. 4. Penticton Peachfest Parade Aug 10, (l-r) BCNU President Debra McPherson, Deb Duperreault, Gail O’Grady, Interior Health LPN rep Janet Elizabeth Van Doorn, Pat Skwarok, Okanagan-Similkameen chair Laurie Munday, OkanaganSimilkameen Lobby Coordinator Kevin Barry and Mary Lynn Entz. 5. Clinton Health Centre (l-r), Thompson North Okanagan chair Tracy Quewezance, BCNU President Debra McPherson and Meghan Nairn. 6. Ovarian Cancer Walk September 8, (l-r) Winnie Yuan, Mary Taylor, Sara Fatehifar, Annelise Henderson, Vancouver Coastal LPN rep Marlene Goertzen and RIVA chair Lauren Vandergronden. 7. Chase Health Centre event (l-r) Thompson North Okanagan chair Tracy Quewezance, Janet Jones, BCNU President Debra McPherson, Ann O’Donnell along with lab technicians Claudia Rinnaldi and Dora Gagne. 8. Men In Nursing member Gabriel Zamorano provides blood glucose testing at BC Lions Game. 9. Preparing for Pride in Nelson, (l-r) Nelson City Councillor Robin Cherbo, West Kootenay chair Lorne Burkart, Tracy Mailey-Baur, Jessie Renzie, Jeannie Todd, and nursing student Jill Todd.

THE PEOPLE

UPDATE U UP DATE MAGAZINE October 2013

12 COMMUNITY NURSING

VANCOUVER COASTAL NURSES KEEP ON TOP OF BED BUGS A NOSE FOR BUGS Frankie the bed bug-sniffing dog, along with his handler Heidi Bradford inspect healthcare facilities from Whistler to Chilliwack.

LIDA FERNHOUT NO longer jumps when she sees a bed bug. A registered nurse at Vancouver’s Downtown Community Health Centre, she often works with clients who walk in the door covered in them. “I was taking blood work from a patient and they started crawling out of his jean jacket. I couldn’t move because I had a needle in his arm, and he started slapping them away,” says Fernhout, who just carried on with the job. She says some nurses protect themselves from carrying home unwanted critters by keeping work clothes at work, or by putting clothing in a Ziploc bag at the end of the day, but sometimes the tiny blood suckers go undetected, until there’s an itching problem at home. Fernhout recalls a colleague who recently

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK Downtown Eastside community health nurse Alida Fernhout is used to dealing with bed bugs and says it’s important to avoid stigmatizing clients who are carrying the insects in their clothing and belongings.

had to take four days off work to rid her home of bed bugs which had hitched a ride to her home. “To prepare for pest control to come in, you have to pull everything away from the walls. The mattress has to be thrown away or treated. It can be quite laborious and costly.”

Vancouver Coastal Health has a Bed Bug Policy which provides up to $500 for treatment of an employee’s home if it has become infested as a direct result of work and up to $100 for cleaning a car which has bed bugs. The policy states that staff must take precautions so that bed bugs are not taken from the workplace and spread to vehicles, home or other worksites/locations and staff must be aware of methods to minimize the likelihood of being bitten. Bed bugs have become a pesky problem in Metro Vancouver. One pest control company says the number of calls it receives for bed bug infestations has doubled in the last three years. Although bed bugs don’t pose any serious health risks they do live and hide in the areas where we sleep – mostly in bedding, mattresses, headboards, bed frames and box springs. Bed bugs can easily go undetected because of their size and nocturnal nature. Dark spots and small blood stains may indicate the presence of bed bugs. They also give off a sweet musty odour and often leave their eggs and molted skins near areas they have infested. There is no way to prevent bed bugs entirely. However, experts agree that early detection is the best way to prevent them from establishing themselves. Orkin Pest Control, which is sometimes contracted by Vancouver Coastal Health to deal with bed bug infestations at its worksites, claims a bed bug dog is the best tool for early detection. Meet Frankie, a perky, adorable Jack Russell Terrier. Once a rescue dog, Frankie now works five days a week, sniffing out bed bugs with his human handler, Heidi Bradford of Orkin’s Canine Detection Unit. Together they inspect rooming houses, healthcare facilities, apartment buildings and private homes between Whistler and Chilliwack. Much like drug sniffing dogs, Frankie is trained to pick up the scent of bed bugs. “He’ll stop and sit or lay down. Sometimes if gets really excited, he’ll bark” says Bradford, who adds that in five years of service, Frankie has become quite popular with some of the nurses who see him regularly.

UPDATE MAGAZINE October 2013

“We do a lot of proactive work where go in on a monthly basis in high risk areas – like the Downtown Eastside. Sometimes we’ll go in twice a month and go through a whole building. We don’t always find anything, but if they’re spotted early enough we can get a jump on it.” Back in the Downtown Eastside, Fernhout says that she and her colleagues take it all in stride and try to ensure that clients who have bed bugs don’t feel any more uncomfortable than they already do. “We’re pretty used to it. We don’t stigmatize, it’s embarrassing for the clients.” UPDATE

BED BUG FACTS Bed bugs are small, oval insects that feed by sucking blood from humans or animals. Bed bugs do not fly. Bed bugs can live anywhere in the home. They can live in cracks in furniture or in any type of textile, including upholstered furniture. They are most common in beds, including the mattress, box springs, and bed frames. Bed bugs are most active at night. They may bite any exposed areas of skin while an individual is sleeping. Common locations for bed bug bites are the face, neck, hands, and arms. A bed bug bite is painless and is generally not noticed. The bites may be mistaken for a rash of another cause. Small, flat, or raised bumps on the skin are the most common sign. Symptoms include redness, swelling, and itching. Typically, no treatment is required for bed bug bites. If itching is severe, steroid creams or oral antihistamines may be used for symptom relief. FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:

www.vch.ca/your_environment/ pest_management/bed-bugs/ www.health.gov.bc.ca/protect/bed-bugs

ENVISION. CREATE. INNOVATE. CNSA 2014 NATIONAL CONFERENCE NURSING STUDENTS REGISTER NOW! The 2014 Canadian Nursing Students’ Association’s National Conference takes place January 24-25 in Vancouver. The event will be attended by over 600 nursing students and nurses from across Canada who will gather to develop professional knowledge and leadership skills. Langara College is hosting the conference, and Langara nursing students are already hard at work organizing next year’s event. The conference theme – “Envision. Create. Innovate.” – reflects the organizers‘ goal of empowering nursing students to create an impact in their communities, both nationally and internationally. BCNU is proud to be a conference sponsor, and the union is pleased to fund a limited number of reserved spots for nursing students from across BC. APPLY TODAY!

Completed forms must be returned via email no later than November 3. Applications will be reviewed and applicants will be notified if they have been selected for BCNU funding shortly thereafter. Funding includes conference registration (including pre-conference and social activities), and when applicable, travel and accommodations. QUESTIONS? Email studentnurse@bcnu.org for more information on how to register.

Download BCNU Funding Application.

Registration opened on September 3 and closes January 13, 2014. The early bird registration is October 18. ($150 + tax for CNSA members and $290 + tax for non-members) The CNSA is the voice of nursing students in Canada and represents over 25,000 nursing students. For more than 30 years, the CNSA has represented the interests of nursing students to federal, provincial and international governments and to other nursing healthcare organizations. The CNSA is an associate member of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions and an affiliate member of the Canadian Nurses Association. For more information visit www.cnsa.ca

14 CDMR

VANCOUVER ISLAND NURSES TURN UP THE HEAT IN THE FIGHT TO ENSURE SAFE PATIENT CARE Island Health Authority refuses to provide evidence to support its claim that care restructuring won’t negatively affect patients

HE OVER 60 VANCOUVER Island nurses rallied around the BCNU campaign bus at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) on September 13 to represent the intensifying fight against a health authority care model that replaces RNs and LPNs with care aides and is now spreading from Nanaimo to Victoria. Friday September the 13th was the unlucky day that the Island Health Authority chose to launch its flawed caredelivery model redesign (CDMR). And nurses wearing red tops and black pants in protest of the 26 nurse displacements at NRGH were on hand to applaud speeches by BCNU leaders who vowed to continue fighting to stop Island Health’s scheme to cut costs by taking nurses away from patients. “Nurses know you can’t multiply the number of patients they oversee without cutting the time available for patient assessment,” said BCNU President Debra McPherson. “We know that directly observing patients vee and noticing signs of change is how negative outcomes are prevented, and that’s why we fundamentally oppose a plan designed to remove nurses from the bedside.” “Numerous studies show that nurses cannot be replaced by unregulated assistants who are not trained or licensed to perform core nursing functions”, she said. “Whenever that’s been tried, patient safetyy has suffered due to missed nursing care – and that’s just what CDMR will do here if we don’t stop it.” R Nurses are deeply concerned that CDMR

generates new gaps in nursing care, such as failure to complete head-to-toe patient assessments or to get daily medications out on schedule, which put patients at serious risk of complications. “It’s clearly impossible for one nurse to oversee a care team serving twelve patients and still have any sort of direct relationship with those patients,” BCNU Pacific Rim Chair Jo Salken told the rally. “If nurses can’t assess their patients within an hour after surgery, signs of things going wrong are bound to be missed.” “CDMR will severely disable the hospital’s early detection system, which can only multiply lapses in patient safety and increase the likelihood of failures to rescue.” McPherson pledged to redouble BCNU’s efforts to stop the spread of CDMR across Vancouver Island and to force Island Health to agree to an independent expert assess-

ment of the risks posed to patient safety. The health authority has so far refused to provide any evidence supporting its claim that CDMR won’t negatively affect patient safety or health outcomes. BCNU has vigorously contested CDMR since it first became clear that the scheme wasn’t about improving care for an aging population with more complex illnesses, but rather about saving money. CDMR had always been sugar-coated as a plan to use regulated nurses more effectively. However Island Health’s “Section 54” restructuring notice issued last May revealed that 26 nurses would be replaced on four key units. Once it became clear that CDMR comes at the expense of patient contact with nurses, BCNU began demanding it be put on hold so its safety impacts could be evaluated by an independent process. “It’s absurd to claim that replacing the professional expertise of nurses with unregulated care aides is some sort of response to an aging population’s higheracuity needs,” said McPherson. “What’s needed is more bedside nursing, more trained eyes on older patients, not less.” In July, nurses collected over 3,000 names on a petition calling on Island Health to halt the scheme and agree to an

Stop Island Health from cutting nurses at the bedside Se a message to Island Health’s CEO and chief nurse! Send They have implemented their scheme at Nanaimo Regional T General Hospital. Plans are in place to introduce it at G Victoria hospitals and move it throughout the Island. Help V Vancouver Island nurses push back! V Tell them that when patients have increased care needs, they need more of the skills and knowledge of nursing professionals. THE BCNU WEBSITE. Sign our petition and VISIT TT join us in demanding that Island Health keep the promise promis se of safe patient care. Island Health

UPDATE MAGAZINE October 2013

LESSONS FROM THE UK: NO SHORTAGE OF EVIDENCE TO SHOW THAT LOWER NURSE STAFFING LEVELS MEANS REDUCED PATIENT SAFETY

RED ALERT BCNU President Debra McPherson addresses over 60 Vancouver Island nurses rallied around the BCNU campaign bus at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) on September 13, the day the Island Health Authority launched its ﬂawed care-delivery redesign model.

“Island Health’s refusal to disclose their evidence suggests they haven’t done proper diligence on this care model, that they’ve chosen to fly blind and just see how it plays out.” BCNU President Debra McPherson.

independent expert review. Stacks of petitions were delivered in person to the July Island Health board meeting in Duncan, where nurses from Nanaimo and Victoria crowded the microphones to make the board aware of patient safety issues attributable to CDMR. Nurses were treated courteously at the meeting and promised a written response to their concerns by Island Health President Dr. Brendan Carr.

However, shortly after they received a dismissive response from board chair Don Hubbard. In August BCNU filed a Freedom of Information request seeking any internal studies and reports dealing with CDMR and safety impacts, in order to find out whether Island Health was hiding anything. “Island Health’s refusal to disclose their evidence suggests they haven’t done proper diligence on this care model, that they’ve chosen to fly blind and just see how it plays out,” said McPherson. BCNU’s stop-CDMR campaign is now developing a second front in Victoria, where Island Health has given notice that it will replace nurses with care aides at Royal Jubilee Hospital (12 units) and Victoria General Hospital (11 units) effective January 2014. To date, Island Health has refused to disclose the actual number of nurses affected. McPherson will continue to meet with South Island members to raise awareness of the risk that CDMR poses to safe patient care and engage them in future actions. UPDATE

EVIDENCE-BASED DECISION MAKING SHOULD be the cornerstone of good public policy and there is no shortage of evidence to show that the UK’s recent attempts to “redesign” care models by cutting nursing staff levels have often led to tragic results. The Francis Inquiry analyzed the causes of 400 – 1200 “needless deaths” at the National Health Service’s Stafford Hospital. Its report, released last February, identified failure to ensure adequate nurse staffing as a central factor. A UK survey* of nearly 3,000 English RNs published this summer presents a disturbing picture of the reality of unsafe nurse workloads. Here are some excerpts:

“There is strong evidence to show that lower nurse staffing levels in hospitals are associated with worse patient outcomes. One hypothesized mechanism is the omission of necessary nursing care caused by time pressure – ‘missed care’.” “The body of evidence demonstrating an association between patient outcomes and nurse staffing is substantial. A systematic review of 102 studies concluded that increased registered nurse (RN) staffing levels are associated with lower rates of hospital-related mortality and adverse patient events.” “Nurses are more likely to report care being left undone when they are working on shifts with high numbers of patients per RN.” “Care that was frequently left undone included adequate patient surveillance, which has been hypothesized as a key mechanism explaining the association between low nurse staffing and increased mortality.” “The consequences of poorly informed experiments to improve the efficiency of the nursing workforce can be disastrous.” *“Care Left Undone” during nursing shifts, Ball et al., British Medical Journal Quality and Safety Online First, July 2013.

EXPLORING THE JOURNEY OF HEALING This year’s Wellspring Conference: Encounters with Trauma, Hope and Healing will offer an indepth look at trauma management and treatment

ANCOUVER’S YASMIN Winsor is more than familiar with trauma. The Downtown Eastside street nurse is one of several nurses, social workers and community leaders who is bringing her years of professional experience towards the planning of this month’s Wellspring Conference Winsor is Chair of the conference’s Planning Committee. She says that organizers hope to offer conference participants a wide range of experiences during the twoday event taking place October 25-26 at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. This includes interactive workshops and panel presentations exploring the science of relational and situational trauma, to networking opportunities for those working in the field of trauma management and treatment. “Most of the people on the conference’s planning committee work in the Downtown Eastside and are already familiar with the painful stories of people who are self-medicating or trying hard to rid themselves of the inner pain they are feeling by abusing drugs,” says Winsor. “As a result, we really wanted to host a community-based conference that addresses the science of trauma and features many of the complimentary therapies out there being used to help support people who are trying to heal from their traumatic experiences.” Conference keynote speakers include Dr. Gabor Maté and Dr. Ruth Lamb. Maté is a renowned best-selling author highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics

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We really wanted to host a communitybased conference that addresses the science of trauma and features many of the complimentary therapies out there being used to help support people who are trying to heal from their traumatic experiences. Yasmin Winsor

HELPING HEALTH PRACTITIONERS SERVE PATIENTS BETTER Vancouver Street Nurse Yasmin Winsor is one of several nurses, social workers and community leaders who’ve come together to organize the Wellspring Conference taking place October 25-26 at St Paul’s Hospital.

from addiction to mind-body wellness. His presentation will outline the scientific basis for a compassionate view of human dysfunction and healing and focus on how childhood trauma is the most significant risk factor and template for addictions, mental and physical illness. Maté has written several best-selling books, including the award winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction and his works have been published in twenty

”

languages. Dr. Ruth Lamb has a background in healthcare administration, education, clinical practice and research, and her career has focused on consciousness-based paradigms for healing trauma. The author of Yoga Sadhana of Healing and Human Becoming, Lamb has worked both nationally and internationally with groups, organizations and individuals. Her highly anticipated keynote presentation will deal with the study of complementary and alternative medicine, as well as incorporating ancient wisdom teachings. Winsor notes the wide selection of informative and interactive workshops that are a feature of the Wellspring Conference, and that give attendees the chance to participate in different therapies such as yoga, meditation and art therapy and experience relaxing and restorative activities over the course of two days. “It’s important for the nurses and others working in the Downtown Eastside to learn how to take care of themselves so that they

UPDATE MAGAZINE October 2013

can support people and be kind to those who have been severely traumatized,” she says. Winsor says this year’s conference will also include an in-depth look into signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, developmental and complex trauma, principles of trauma-informed care for service providers, substance misuse and process addictions, and the role of healing modalities such as music, movement, gardening, meditation and storytelling. “Maybe we can start pushing the envelope a little, as far as treatment goes for people who are dealing with trauma and mental illness because there aren’t a lot of options right now to serve people,” she says. “There are pharmaceuticals and some cognitive therapy that people can access but as a committee, we agree there needs to be other things in place to help people with treatment. A lot of people living in the Downtown Eastside have severe childhood trauma and they’re coping in very stressful living situations,” explains Winsor. “It’s sad what’s happened to people in their past. Most people don’t want to be addicts. They just want to feel better but they can’t afford therapy and they can’t go to private practitioners. We are hopeful the knowledge that this conference will provide will ultimately help nurses and health practitioners serve patients better.” UPDATE

The Wellspring Conference: Encounters with Trauma, Hope and Healing will run from Friday, October 25th to Saturday, October 26th with talks and workshops taking place both days. For more information on the conference itinerary or to register, visit www.thewellspringconference.ca

RPNs ARE MAKING THE SWITCH TO BCNU RHONDA WELSH FELT ISOLATED and targeted. It was 2010 and the Royal Columbian Hospital RPN had started a new position, working as a consult liaison and outpatient nurse. An RPN since 2000, Welsh has worked in mental health for over 30 years in different roles and has always had a passion for working with marginalized people, including those living with mental illness. Welsh found she was only one of two nurses who were to be hired for the job, and that Fraser Health held off on filling the second position. “My new coordinator started harassing me and making life very difficult at work. I was given demands instead of direction and was not provided with the resources to do the job.” Welsh, who had never had any disciplinary issues at work, was also subjected to a performance evaluation even though standards had not been established for the new position. “It felt like character defamation,” said Welsh, who decided to file a grievance over her treatment. “My HSA Labour Relations Officer never returned my calls to help me prepare. He showed up at the meeting and proceeded to make deals with the employer without consulting me.” Welsh decided to connect with a BCNU steward at RCH. “I said sign me up. If we can do it let’s do it.” A campaign was born. “I started making my own telephone calls just to talk to other RPNs both in and outside of RCH that I had worked or gone to school with just to see if there was any interest in joining BCNU.” Welsh and a group of RPNs encouraged enough colleagues to

SUPPORTING EACH OTHER Royal Columbian Hospital RPN Rhonda Welsh is conﬁdent that by working together, nurses will be better able to improve mental health services.

sign BCNU membership cards in order to trigger a representation vote. And last June the BC Labour Relations Board confirmed that RPNs at Royal Columbian Hospital, along with others at East Kootenay Regional Hospital and Rosewood Manor had voted to switch to BCNU. Welsh is confident that uniting nurses in a strong, shared union will strengthen nurses’ profession to negotiate better contracts and practice conditions, and improve public healthcare. “It just makes sense for us to be together so that we can focus on the collective issues that nurses have,” she says. “Each nurse comes to work with unique issues, but our most important challenges are similar – separating nurses is an obstacle to resolving issues.” UPDATE

BC RPNs can sign BCNU membership applications starting this September. When a majority sign up with BCNU, the BC Labour Relations Board will hold a membership vote. BCNU will communicate voting details once the LRB establishes those details.

FEATURE

18 18

“NOT QUALIFIED”

D Displaced nurses with decades of experience a are being denied access to vacancies tthey are more than qualified to fill. BCNU m g g back. members and stewards are fighting

SWARANJIT S WARANJIT DHILLON couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The nurse of 15 years had just been called by her manager and told she was not qualiﬁed to ﬁll the patient care coordinator position she applied for at the new short stay medical unit opening at Surrey Memorial Hospital.

SURREY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL NURSES Full-time Steward Gail Conlin, Patient Care Coordinator Swaranjit Dhillon and Full-time Steward Doreen Fleming. Conlin helped Dhillon successfully grieve an employer’s decision that the nurse of 15 years was not qualiﬁed for the position she now holds. PHOTO BY CHRIS CAMERON

Dhillon began working at Surrey Memorial in 1998, and since then had worked in the hospital’s medical, surgical, rehab and IV units. She was working as an IV nurse last year when management informed her that the hospital’s two IV unit positions were being cut. Dhillon was given six week’s notice of her displacement, and during this time she applied for seven positions at the hospital. This

included ambulatory day care, surgical day care and medical day care positions. But her first choice was the new PCC vacancy. Dhillon was so confident she would get her first-choice position that she did not ask for the option of working as a casual if she didn’t get any of the positions she applied for. As a result, she got none of the positions she applied for and now found herself laid off.

FEATURE

“I was very, very upset,” recalls Dhillon. “Emotionally, even now, after working for 15 years in various positions for Fraser Health, and having so much experience, to hear the words ‘you’re unqualified’ was very hurtful.” She says that at the moment her manager said the word “unqualified” she was not even thinking about the fact that she did not get any positions. “I was just thinking, how could they say that I’m unqualified?” Unfortunately, Dhillon’s experience is not unique. Across the province, experienced, capable and competent RNs who find themselves displaced are being told by their employers that they do not have the qualifications required to bump into positions or fill vacancies. The result? BCNU members are being denied their job security and having their opportunities for professional advancement limited.

ow could such a situation come to be? BCNU Qualifications Officer Carmen Pickering says the problem lies with the way many employers are increasingly abusing job descriptions. “Over time, employers have made changes to the qualifications they require for nurse positions—seemingly for no apparent reason other than a new manager arriving on the scene and wishing to make his or her mark,” Pickering explains. “We’re seeing health authorities reject nurses’ applications for jobs based on a manager’s subjective and often cursory assessment of their qualifications.” Pickering says that with the exception of specialty areas identified in the Nurses’ Bargaining Association contract – such as OR, PAR, ER, ICU, CCU nursing – the additional specialty education, including courses and certificates, that many employers are now demanding has never been agreed to by the union. BCNU President Debra McPherson says the issue was a priority during the last round of NBA bargaining, and that

and the acquisition of select certificates for many level one positions is often an arbitrary management decision. “The suggestion that Registered Nurses must obtain more education and/or direct experience before being able to apply for a level one position defies logic and seemingly releases the employer from its numerous contractual obligations to BCNU members,” she says. “That’s unnacceptable.”

QUALIFIED NURSE A master’s degree and over 30 years of experience hasn’t stopped the Fraser Health Authority from attempting to deny Rafael Paule a Patient Care Coordinator position at Surrey Memorial Hospital’s new ER.

the union and health authorities signed a memorandum of understanding last fall to review how employers implement qualification requirements (see sidebar: “Joint Qualification Review Committee: Doing More To Protect Members’ Job Selection Rights”). “Additional requirements should not be used as a management tool to prevent nurses from applying for a position of interest or as a way to screen out suitable candidates,” says McPherson, noting that demands for additional years’ experience

afael Paule is all too familiar with arbitrary management decisions. The Surrey Memorial RN trained in the Philippines and worked in Bahrain as a psychiatric nurse for 10 years before immigrating to Canada in 1990. He worked in residential care in Langley and then went to Surrey Memorial and worked in psychiatry while also working as a casual float nurse in the hospital’s medical, surgical, ER, palliative and orthopedic units. One would be hard pressed to find another nurse with Paule’s breadth of experience. Paule was working full-time in Surrey Memorial’s acute in-patient psychiatric assessment unit in 2010 when he applied for a patient care coordinator vacancy. “I had the interview and they said I wasn’t qualified for the position because I hadn’t done any supervisory work as defined in the job description,” he says. “I also suspected that the manager did not like the fact that I was continuing my education” (Paule just completed his master’s degree in nursing this summer). “The person who was given the position

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I have gotten a lot of commendations from my colleagues for sticking it out – everybody knows I’ve got the experience, education and seniority.

”

Surrey Memorial Hospital RN Rafael Paule

UPDATE MAGAZINE October 2013

“

Additional requirements should not be used as a management tool to prevent nurses from applying for a position of interest or as a way to screen out suitable candidates.

”

BCNU President Debra McPherson

was less senior than I am, was less qualified and had less education,” says Paule, who immediately grieved the decision. It’s been a two-year process, but Paule and the union were successful, and last March he was finally awarded the PCC position. He says that during this time four people cycled through the position. He kept applying while his grievance was unresolved, with each rejection serving as evidence of a pattern of discrimination. Paule reflects on why he encountered such difficulty. “I can communicate effectively with patients and hospital staff – but personality-wise managers don’t like me because I have no qualms about speaking my mind. I’m not a ‘yes man’ and I don’t bend,” he says. “Maybe they don’t like that.” Paule says that he could not have won this fight on his own. “My colleagues and previous managers have been instrumental to my case and have given me personal letters of references speaking to my compassion and reliability – these made for a stronger case.” “I have gotten a lot of commendations from my colleagues for sticking it out – everybody knows I’ve got the experience, education and seniority,” he says.

urse experience aside, it is important for employers’ to respect the collective agreement and ensure that all displaced nurses’ qualifications are assessed objectively and fairly. Just ask Kamloops nurse Chantal McFadden what disappointment after displacement feels like. The recent Thompson

Rivers University grad had been working in a permanent, full-time DC1 position at Overlander Extended Care when her position was eliminated in April 2012. She decided to apply for a vacant public health nurse position that she felt more than capable of filling. But McFadden’s manager notified her that she did not meet the qualifications of a CH1 public health nurse and would not be capable of performing those duties (McFadden had two years of clinical experience as an RN, primarily in acute and residential settings). Specifically, they wanted her to have “recent experience in a public health setting in the last five years”. “They were saying that I wouldn’t know enough about public health because I hadn’t done a public health practicum,” says McFadden. “If that was the reason I figured I’d never have the opportunity to ever work in public health anywhere,” she says. “My steward contacted my nursing school and when they heard about my situation they got offended because they do provide a good chunk of public health training for us.” McFadden grieved the decision. BCNU argued that her employer violated the collective agreement by not performing a fair, comprehensive and reasonable assessment of McFadden’s capabilities and qualifications. The union also argued that the job description allowed managers to subjectively and unfairly apply its qualification provisions, which predisposed them to hiring nurses familiar to them, or those whom they liked on a personal level.

JOINT QUALIFICATION REVIEW COMMITTEE Doing more to protect members’ job selection rights Nurses under the NBA Provincial Collective Agreement have gained an important tool in asserting their right to professional growth opportunities and job security. During the last round of negotiations, BCNU had health employers agree to work with the union to review the qualifications for non-specialty level one jobs. BCNU has grown increasingly concerned about inconsistency across Health Authorities in the requested qualifications for the same job. The union also has a heightened awareness of job descriptions with questionable qualification demands. These kinds of employer actions often serve to deny members their collective agreement rights. BCNU and Health Employer’s Association of BC and its Health Authority representatives recently began meeting to address this issue, as agreed during collective bargaining. The new joint Qualification Review Committee has moved forward on a number of process issues, and has confirmed the principles and intent of the committee. Work is ongoing to establish committee goals and provide recommendations to union and employer leadership on how to best ensure that level one job descriptions are fair and consistent.

FEATURE

“Is it appropriate that management use a rather vague clause in an employer-generated job description to exercise discretionary authority and thereby not only circumvent fundamental collective agreement principles but further disadvantage an already adversely affected employee as well?” Arbitrator Tom Hodges, regarding Interior Health Authority’s level one qualification requirements.

CAPABLE CANDIDATE An arbitrator ruled that Kamloops RN Chantal McFadden was fully capable of performing the duties of the position she had applied for despite the wording of the Interior Health Authority’s job description.

“I didn’t believe them when they said I was not qualified – it didn’t make sense to me at all,” says McFadden, whose grievance was successful after the Interior Health Authority – BCNU Tom Hodges Alternative Dispute Resolution process ruled last November that Interior Health unfairly denied her the CH1 public health position. In his analysis of the case, the arbitrator noted that a nurse’s lack of a specific qualification as worded in a job description does not mean they are then unqualified for the position. Rather, the question is one of capability: if a nurse is capable of performing the duties of the job description by the end of the qualifying period (90 days in

McFadden’s case) then they are entitled to bump into those jobs or fill appropriate vacancies. And given the fact that McFadden had applied for a level one position, the arbitrator ruled that there was little doubt that, with her qualifications, experience and demonstrated capability, she could fully rise to the demands of the level one public health position within a reasonable qualifying period. In his decision, the arbitrator was critical of what he called the “alarmingly vague” job requirements that Interior Health had created which, unwittingly or not, contained elements that circumvented important collective agreement provisions that require employers to show fair and reasonable consideration before depriving a nurse of the qualifying period during which they could become proficient in the job.

he issue of employers denying nurses’ access to available vacancies or suitable positions was identified as significant enough of a problem that it reached the NBA provincial bargaining table last year. Dhillon recalls the evening in August

2012 when she spoke directly to provincial health employers. She had filed her grievance and BCNU’s provincial bargaining committee was meeting withprovincial health employers in Vancouver. Job security was on the agenda and her steward suggested that it would be a good opportunity to tell her story and let employers hear first hand from a nurse who had been deemed not qualified and how it affected her. “I went to the meeting,” says Dhillon. “I was so upset with them saying I was unqualified and I told them I had to do this for myself – I’ve worked for 15 years and said that they just can’t do this to nurses.” “Three days later I got a call from my steward and she told me I got the PCC position I had applied for.” The result of Dhillon’s and others’ experience has been the negotiated “Memorandum of Understanding—Job Security: Dispute resolution process regarding displacement options” that is now part of NBA provincial contract. This MOU places a priority on reaching a conclusion to a nurse’s disagreement if their employer deems them “not qualified” for a position. The process is intended to elevate and resolve the issue quickly and require

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I was so upset with them saying I was unqualified and I told them I had to do this for myself – I’ve worked for 15 years and said that they just can’t do this to nurses.

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Surrey Memorial Hospital RN Swaranjit Dhillon

UPDATE MAGAZINE October 2013

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Don’t let your employer’s misguided qualifications request for non-specialties prevent you from trying something new or accessing a position more personally or professionally suited to you.

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BCNU President Debra McPherson

employers’ further consideration of nurses’ position requests. McPherson says it’s an important new tool for protecting job security. “We negotiated this MOU because we know that nurses are qualified by innumerable means – and an employer’s reliance on specific years’ experience or special certificates to determine suitability for a role rather than a comprehensive, individual assessment of the nurse does a grave disservice to nursing—a profession centred on the principle of holism and autonomy of practice,” she says. McPherson urges nurses not to allow employers to prevent them from exercising their hard-fought seniority rights. “Don’t let your employer’s misguided qualifications request for non-specialties prevent you from trying something new or accessing a position more personally or professionally suited to you,” she says. “Don’t let a vacancy remain unfilled. If you’re displaced make your preferred selections, and remember that job requirements are often arbitrary.” “If you are denied a position and told you are ‘not qualified’– contact your steward and demand that your employer look again – either through the grievance process or using the new the MOU,” says McPherson. “When it comes to safe patient care, an RN is nothing if not qualified.”

he new dispute resolution language is something Paule has found himself using sooner than expected.

“They are giving me hard time again,” he says. “I recently applied for another PCC position that came up in the new Surrey Memorial ER – and again the managers said that I am not qualified to take it.” The position requires three years recent emergency experience, psychiatric experience and one year experience in a supervisory/administrative capacity, or equivalent combination of education, training or experience. “I have all of this and more,” says Paule. “I’m not only an experienced RN. I was a float nurse and worked as an in-charge nurse.” “I have over 30 years of experience. I graduated in 1978, I have a master’s degree and I am currently working as a PCC.” Paule reports that the hospital picked an applicant with three years of ER experience who is currently being temporarily replaced by another nurse who has no supervisory experience. “They haven’t learned their lesson and I’m going to fight them again.” Dhillon agrees that nurses must stand up for their rights. “You have worked for your qualifications and you have to know your options,” she says. “Take your time to go through the displacement process, ask questions, talk to your steward and get their support.” “Be confident and believe in yourself. The more nurses who stand up the more employers will be aware that they can’t do this.” UPDATE

IMPROVING NURSES’ OPPORTUNITIES Standardizing employers’ job descriptions BCNU negotiated a memorandum of understanding during the last round of Nurses’ Bargaining Association contract talks that will see health employers decrease their total number of job descriptions. It’s all part of the union’s efforts to protect nurses’ vacancy and selection rights. This new MOU compels provincial health authorities and Providence Health Care to review and consolidate their nurse job descriptions. BCNU is concerned about employers having hundreds of separate job descriptions with an equally wide variety in qualifications required for the same jobs across worksites. Health authorities and Providence Health Care are now providing quarterly submissions to the Joint Qualification Review Committee (see sidebar “Doing more to protect members’ job selection rights”) and are working to lower the number of job descriptions to 60. Standardizing employers’ job descriptions further protects BCNU members’ rights to access all available job opportunities – especially those nurses who have been displaced.

Member Proﬁle YOUR COLLEAGUE CLOSE-UP

CONTINENCE ADVISOR VANCOUVER RN NAOMI WOLFMAN IS PASSIONATE ABOUT HELPING PATIENTS REGAIN DIGNITY AND CONTROL OVER THEIR LIVES. SOME CALL IT A BUCKET list. Others call it goal-setting. But when Naomi Wolfman turned 40, she decided there were three things she wanted to do in her lifetime: learn how to play the piano, figure out how to ride a bicycle, and study to become a nurse. All three goals proved to be fulfilling, but only one would lead to a career. Wolfman’s nursing journey began at Langara College 18 months after her 40th birthday. Today, with her studies completed, the RN works in the transitional care unit at Vancouver General Hospital, where she is affectionately known as the “water advocate”. Why the label? Wolfman is a Nurse Continence Advisor (NCA) who has been keen

to share her knowledge on conservative methods for managing urinary and fecal incontinence with colleagues. She has developed lunch-time educationals for co-workers dubbed “The Water Works Series” where she talks about the importance of water not only in the overall management of continence, but to the entire body. She also delves into a variety of related topics, and takes questions from other nurses who are working with patients who are affected. The University of Victoria graduate also goes out of her way to equip patients suffering from incontinence with as much knowledge, tools, and confidence as time permits. Wolfman says that the Kegel exercise is the most common

solution for many dealing with continence problems. Done on its own, and without a proper understanding of the entire pelvic floor, she says that the exercise can lead to frustration for those affected. “Many people get disappointed by their lack of progress, lose hope and begin to normalize incontinence into their day-today life.” When Wolfman learned that nearly seventy percent of all cases of incontinence can be treated, if not eradicated, she was more motivated than ever to educate patients and co-workers around the issue. “It’s not only Kegel exercises – there’s more to it. There’s daily habits, there’s bladder training, there’s working with the bladder and the bowel,” she says.

PHOTO: ALEX WABER

WATER ADVOCATE Vancouver RN and nurse continence advisor Naomi Wolfman is keen to share her knowledge on methods for managing urinary and fecal incontinence.

UPDATE MAGAZINE October 2013

OPEN FORUM FOR BCNU MEMBERS

“There are so many myths about the exercise, such as you do it three hundred times per day, twenty minutes at a time – it’s actually a disservice if you do it when the muscle is tired!” Wolfman was first introduced to her specialty in her last year of nursing school, at a time when she and her fellow classmates were being asked to assess their skill set and choose an area of nursing where they feel they could make the most difference. “Many students were considering specializing in pediatrics, cardiac nursing, and other more common areas of focus,” says Wolfman. “But I was struck by the potential for new and encouraging research in continence management to help patients regain dignity and control over their lives.” Why the decision to pursue continence nursing as a specialty? Wolfman says she had just completed course work related to continence management while she was also welcoming a relative to stay with her family for six months. “My course work was done and I decided to attend a public forum hosted by a nurse continence advisor,” she says. “At the same time, the family member who was staying with me also happened to be suffering from incontinence.” Wolfman says the experience inspired her to choose her path. She has now spent the past seven years learning, practicing, and educating her patients, peers, and colleagues around the science and treatment of incontinence. Wolfman received a bursary from BCNU in 2010 which she used to complete the Nurse Continence Advisor (NCA) Distance Education Certificate Program offered through McMaster University’s School of Nursing. Established in 1997, the NCA is a continuing education certificate program that uses a self-directed, problemoriented approach to developing evidence-based practice in continence care. It is the only university-based program for educating nurse continence advisors offered in North America. For Wolfman, the most rewarding part of the job is the moment when someone surprises themselves with their progress and perseverance. “It’s the moment when you see a person really feel what the muscles do. It’s the moment when the patient comes back and says, ‘Wow! I sneezed! And guess what, there was no leakage!’” she says. No leakage, no frustration, and no embarrassment – only hope, and perhaps a restored sense of dignity. UPDATE

LETTERS ALL NURSES DESERVE CREDIT FOR FIGHTING CDMR The following letter by BCNU Vancouver Island LPN rep Barry Philips was published in the August 14 issue of the Victoria Times Colonist. Philips was responding to the paper’s editorial column crediting RNs alone with generating the widely supported public petition against the Vancouver Island Health Authority’s nursing cuts and the negative impacts its new care model will have on patient safety. Re: “Nursing change is inevitable,” editorial, Aug. 11. The editorial focuses on nurses as RNs, and how they attended the Vancouver Island Health Authority board meeting to protest VIHA’s new staffing plan that will include replacing nurses with care aides. Among those attending the meeting were nurses of other disciplines, including licensed practical nurses and registered psychiatric nurses. These nurses, too, will be affected by the new staffing plan. Primarily, it is the RNs and LPNs who practice in the medical and surgical areas where the changes are being considered. Both disciplines are regulated professionals trained to offer skilled and professional nursing care to their patients. The care model proposes the introduction of care aides to replace these nurses. The HCAs should be employed to augment patient care, not to replace the professional nurses. The level of illness across all our hospitals and health-care systems is high. Patients and residents in acute and long-term care deserve the best quality care available to them. This care includes nurses of all disciplines at the bedside. To remove them and replace them with non-regulated caregivers is not in the best interest of the patients. Nurses of all disciplines are an integral part of our health care system, and belong at the bedside to care for patients and residents. Barry E. Phillips, LPN Victoria

Please join our open forum and send your letters to: lmacdonald@bcnu.org.

NURSES QUESTION FLU VACCINE PROPONENT’S OBJECTIVITY

the reasons many nurses oppose compulsory influenza vaccinations, particularly when she repeatedly characterizes this opposition as “an emotional response.” Ours and others’ opposition to the current flu policy is based not on emotional responses but on the understanding there is no scientific evidence supporting the policy’s rationale, that vaccinating healthcare workers reduces the transmission of influenza to patients.

The following letter from a group of emergency room nurses at Vancouver General Hospital was published in the June issue of the Canadian Nurse in response to an op-ed piece in the April issue calling for compulsory flu vaccinations for all health care workers. “Dr. Alison McGeer (The Last Word, April) seriously misrepresents

On September 8, 2010 the Cochrane Collaboration reported on five research studies which found that vaccinating healthcare workers who look after the elderly in long-term care facilities did not show any effect on the specific outcomes of interest, namely laboratoryproven influenza, pneumonia or deaths from pneumonia. The organization concluded there is no evidence that only vaccinating healthcare workers prevents laboratory-proven influenza, pneumonia and death from pneumonia in elderly residents in long-term care facilities. (http://ow.ly/f F6bW). An October 2012 CIDRAP study arrived at the same conclusion, noting there was no compelling evidence compulsory influenza vaccinations reduced HCW-topatient transmission of the flu. (http://ow.ly/f F6qs). These findings completely contradict the stated basis for the mandatory flu vaccination policy; the presumption that vaccinating healthcare workers will reduce the transmission of flu to patients. We believe such a policy not only flies in the face of values that guide the health-care community, but also fails to demonstrate any grounding in scientific evidence, is coercive rather than persuasive, constitutes an invasion of privacy and nullifies informed consent. Finally, we question Dr. McGeer’s objectivity. She has worked with manufacturers of influenza vaccines, received honoraria for lectures, chaired

advisory boards and participated in sponsored clinical trials. Her article did not disclose this. For more information, visit our Facebook page, Concerned Nurses. Tamara Ballard RN Christine Davie RN Will Offley RN John Tino RN Cindy Vanderbyl RN Tracy Visser RN HOME CARE NURSING COMES WITH UNIQUE CHALLENGES, REWARDS

The following letter was written by Vancouver Coastal region steward Linda Rumney, RN, Bs, CHPCN. “Who would be a Home Care Nurse?” It’s just one of the questions I’ve asked during the many conversations I’ve had with myself lately. Having worked in a variety of care settings (ER, OR, LD, Gerontology, Dermatology, Orthopaedics, even in management in the private sector, on two continents, the answer would still most definitely be, “I”. Admittedly, there are days when I really don’t want to be a nurse of any kind, any more, at all. Recently, for example, when my manager presented his proposal for a new rotation following the reintroduction of the 37.5-hour week or when, as a BCNU steward, nurses who work part-time shared their feelings of utter disillusionment after viewing the rotation that had them working shifts

two weeks apart and on nearly every weekend in a 13-week rotation. “Why Should I Care?” is another question I ask myself. When people ask me what I do for a living and I tell them I’m a Home Care Nurse, they often say, “Ah, that must be nice!” Nice? I guess it has its moments, but “challenging”, “frustrating”, “stressful”, and “emotionally draining” are words that more accurately describe working in community. There is no other area of nursing where an RN may visit a bereft young husband with two small children to discuss end-of-life care for his wife, teach an elderly woman the care and management of her fecal stoma, perform ABI’s for the assessment of a client’s suitability for compression and then administer IV antibiotics via an ONC you’ve just had to re-site, ensuring the client’s cat stays off your sterile field, all in the course of one morning. Working in the community relies heavily on teamwork and continuity to cultivate trusting relationships with clients and their families. Continuity is no less important for the relationship between nurses who work part-time and those who work full-time. So creating a rotation that steals the parttime nurse’s position within the team and treats her like a “float” is destructive. The most worrying concern around the rotation proposals in my work place and in many others I have

discovered is the inevitable collapse of good communication, continuity of care and the ethos of team nursing. Is the problem corporate thinking? I’ve heard all the jargon: “People First” and “Home is Best.” Would one think that a move towards more care in the community would include investment in staff morale and work-life balance? The reverse appears to be true. And the goal? It would appear to be one of spreading nurses as thin possible, sabotaging systems that are effective and chasing into retirement many of the senior nurses who are undoubtedly an amazing and valuable asset to the health service. What’s next? The reality is that there has to be changes to the healthcare system if it is to survive, but don’t expect that the highly skilled home and community care workforce will simply forfeit the respect, acknowledgement and consideration afforded to other areas of care. For me? I have considered a career change. But like my colleagues in community, achieving excellence in the delivery of care to clients in their own homes inspite of the challenges that corporate thinking presents – will suffice, for now. UPDATE

Please join our open forum and send your letters to: lmacdonald@bcnu.org.

UPDATE MAGAZINE October 2013

BOOK REVIEW

RECOGNIZING PATIENTS AND FAMILIES WHO HAVE SPOKEN OUT ABOUT MEDICAL ERRORS

After the Error: Speaking out about patient safety to save lives Susan McIver, PhD and Robin Wyndham 2013, ECW Press, Toronto

EV EVERY YEAR, SOME 24,000 Ca Canadians die from preventab able medical errors. In a 2009 su survey, some four million ad adult Canadians said they hhad experienced medical eerrors in the previous two yyears. It’s figures like these that prompted two retired healthcare professionals to collaborate on a book that they hope illustrates what patients can do to help prevent errors. The authors combine impressive credentials: Susan McIver holds a PhD in entomology/ microbiology and spent 10 years of her career working as a Coroner in BC. Robin Wyndham is a former BCNU member who practiced nursing for 34 years. Both had witnessed the emotional impact and legal costs borne by the victims and families who spoke out after experiencing a medical error. After the Error: Speaking out about patient safety to save lives details what went wrong in 16 cases where medical errors were made. The book was written to recognize the patients and families who took the courage to speak out about their experiences and helped to lay the foundation of current patient safety programs. McIver and Wyndam make the case that patients and their families can

be empowered to be effective advocates in order to continue to raise awareness, identify problems and provide solutions. After the Error is McIver’s second book on the subject of medical errors. In 2001 she authored Medical Nightmares: The Human Face of Errors which documents medical errors in the Canadian healthcare system. The book was prompted by her experience working as a coroner, where she repeatedly saw the results of medical errors. Her job, she says, was “to remain neutral and find fact, not fault.” When asked why she felt compelled to write After the Error a decade after her previous book, McIver says that she and Wyndham wanted to remind people that medical errors continue to happen while giving examples of what people can do to advocate. McIver and Wyndham started developing the book in January 2010. McIver did much of the research and Wyndham edited and provided clinical experience, making the book a worthwhile read for both healthcare professionals and laypeople. McIver and Wyndham did more than compile medical horror stories, they also propose practical solutions that can be realized once medical institutions move beyond a culture of blame. Says McIver: “When doctors and nurses

are free to disclose medical errors, they then sit down with the patient and clinicians and work out a proper restitution. The hospital admits error and then they try to correct it. They ask the patient ‘what can we do to help you?’” She says this approach aims to satisfy the parties involved in these cases more effectively than a remedy imposed by the legal system. Readers may be surprised to learn that in Canada, taxpayers pay for malpractice lawsuit defense through the Canadian Medical Protective Association, whose only task is to defend doctors (unlike the US, where doctors pay huge insurance premiums for medical malpractice coverage). Thus, when a doctor is sued in Canada, they have almost limitless funding to pay for legal defense, mostly paid by tax dollars. Wyndham has several suggestions regarding the role nurses play in preventing errors. Among these are: pushing for safe staffing levels and appropriate staff mix, increasing registered nurses in residential care to reflect the increased fragility of residents, addressing noise and distractions, education and support for refusal of unsafe work, and collaborating with other organizations to promote ongoing education. “We are not surprised by how widespread the problems are, so many people have unfortunate medical experiences,” says McIver. “Errors don’t happen because of bad people,” adds Wyndham. “The idea is to work with healthcare professionals, not to take an adversarial stance.” UPDATE

Health & Safety IN THE WORKPLACE

KELOWNA NURSE Wendy Jolly says she didn’t know who to turn to when she suffered a back injury at work.

GETTING IT RIGHT FAILURE TO PROPERLY DOCUMENT INJURIES MEANS WORKSAFEBC CLAIMS WILL BE DENIED AT FIRST, DEANNA Jerowsky brushed off the pain she was feeling in her left shoulder, deciding instead to use a few vacation days to rest up and get better. The LPN, who works in Keremeos, didn’t think the work-induced injury was serious enough for a doctor’s visit, let alone a phone call to WorkSafeBC to report it. “I was in pain, but I figured taking some time off to let it

rest would be adequate,” she says. “It wasn’t until December, when I reclined a patient in a wheelchair and felt my shoulder pop, that I realized the injury was more serious than first thought.” Last January, Kelowna-based nurse, Wendy Jolly, suffered a serious lower back injury which resulted in two months off work and $5,000 in lost wages. A recent grad working casual-time, Wendy admits she

didn’t know who to turn to for assistance at the time. “I was so naïve in the beginning and was in denial about how bad my back had become. I was taking muscle relaxants and painkillers to try and deal with the pain,” she recalls. “After work one night, I bent over to pick up something on the floor and my back just froze on me. My doctor told me I couldn’t work and I was in excruciating pain. With a large student loan and young family, the time off work resulted in a massive financial strain on my family.” Filing WorkSafeBC claims can be a stressful and complicated process that shouldn’t be left up to members to sort

through alone. Looking back, both Deanna and Wendy admit they should have contacted their union representatives immediately after they were injured. “I tried processing two claims by myself and they were both denied,” says Jerowsky. “When I realized the BC Nurses’ Union was there to help, it was a huge relief. I really didn’t know where to turn after dealing with WorkSafe myself. Having the union take over my file and fight for me is an amazing feeling.” Members are encouraged to follow a set of steps when processing claims, including contacting a supervisor or union representative right away, reporting the incident by

CHANGES TO WORKERS’ COMPENSATION ACT HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR BCNU MEMBERS

Last year, the Workers’ Compensation Act changed how workers may make claims for mental disorders that occur as a result of work in specific sets of circumstances. Prior to July 1, 2012, workers were only entitled to compensation if their mental stress resulted from an acute reaction to a sudden and unexpected traumatic event that occurred at work. Bill 14 amended the Workers’ Compensation Act to include mental disorders resulting from a series of events, including significant work-related stressors. WorkSafeBC’s adjudication board has now implemented a policy setting out decision-making principles that must be followed when determining a worker’s entitlement to compensation for a mental disorder under the amended legislation. BCNU members should note that the criteria for acceptance of claims for mental disorders are different than the criteria for psychological conditions caused or aggravated by compensable work injuries. For more information about the changes brought in by Bill 14, speak to a BCNU Steward at your worksite. BCNU Stewards and Labour Relations Officers are available to support members who may be eligible to make a claim under the amended Workers’ Compensation Act.

UPDATE MAGAZINE October 2013

LEAP

LICENSING, EDUCATION, ADVOCACY AND PRACTICE

calling a toll-free number and completing a WorkSafeBC claim for medical treatment and missed time off work. Failure to properly document injuries, conditions or diseases can result in claims being denied which can mean a lengthy appeal process where

“It wasn’t until December, when I reclined a patient in a wheelchair and felt my shoulder pop, that I realized the injury was more serious than first thought.”

HONOUR IN RECOVERY EARLY INTERVENTION HEALTH PROGRAM HELPS NURSES GET WELL

Deanna Jerowsky

HONOUR IN RECOVERY BCNU’s LEAP program has produced a new video that highlights the stories of nurses who have been provided with support and resources for treatment that have helped them maintain their nursing careers.

members can wait up to three years or more to receive payment from WorkSafeBC. “I wish I had contacted my union representative right away,” says Jolly. “Since my injury, I’ve focused on my health, started going to the gym and have been taking care of myself so I can take care of others.” For more information on what to do if you’re injured at work, visit the BCNU website at www.bcnu.org/healthandsafety UPDATE

FOR A NURSE DEALING with addiction or mental health issues, knowing where to turn for help can be one of the hardest first steps in what is often a very long road to recovery. However, The Early Intervention Health Program (EIHP), co-developed by The College of Registered Nurses (CRNBC) and the BC Nurses’ Union, is a new self-reporting program which offers BCNU members suf-

fering from various illnesses access to treatment, counselling and specialists. Deborah Charrois is a Professional Advocacy Officer with BCNU’s LEAP program, (Licensing, Education, Advocacy and Practice). She says EIHP is already making a positive impact on nurses’ lives. “We’re seeing less competency complaints at the CRNBC because more members with addiction and mental health issues are com-

ing forward before it starts to show up in the workplace,” says Charrois, who notes that the program also offers an incentive to nurses because self-reporting won’t show up on their license. Established in 2012, the EIHP is the only program of its kind in Canada. It allows nurses to remove themselves from practice and seek help before their illness affects their ability to practice safely. This will not be noted on their public registration record. The EIHP connects nurses with support groups, preserves professional integrity and provides safe patient care. The program helps arrange for medical assessments, covers all travel costs to and from treatment, and covers the costs of monitoring during the first year. BCNU’s LEAP program estimates that 10-17 percent of the general public experience mental health concerns. Statistically, that potential for vulnerability ranges from 3,000 to 5,600 BCNU members. After self-reporting to BCNU’s LEAP department, the nurse signs a contract with CRNBC and must remain in compliance with all treatment recommendations. A new video, found on BCNU’s website, tells the personal success stories of BCNU members who’ve battled addiction and won thanks to EIHP and LEAP. Watch it here: www.bcnu.org/ news. UPDATE

MUNICIPAL PENSION PLAN 30 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Your Pension SECURING YOUR FUTURE

Taking the long view Where are we going? Come explore the future of the Municipal Pension Plan at our annual meeting

Thursday, October 17, 2013 Victoria Conference Centre —Victoria, BC 9:30–11:30 am

Contributing today for a secure tomorrow

2012 Valuation | Investment News | Preparing for what’s next and more!

INCREASE YOUR PENSION BENEFIT BY PURCHASING NON-CONTRIBUTING HOURS HAVE YOU EVER WORKED for a Municipal or Public Pension Plan employer but didn’t make pension contributions? If so, you may be able to increase your future pension benefit by purchasing these “non-contributing” service hours. Non-contributing hours include probationary periods upon hire, any unpaid leaves of absence, or time worked as a casual or part-time employee where you were not contributing into the pension. An unpaid leave of absence also includes time on parental leave. Timing is important: You must apply to purchase your service within 30 days after your employment with the employer with whom the service occurred ends or within five years from the time you first begin contributing to the Plan, whichever is earlier. Your cost to purchase noncontributory service is based on your current, full-time equivalent salary, multiplied by the current contribution rate for you and your employer, which is then multiplied again by the number of months being purchased. This is an option worth inves-

tigating if you think you will be ending your employment in the near future, and you know you have accumulated noncontributory hours in the past five years. The first step is to get a Purchase of Service Application package, available from your pension plan’s website or from your employer. You can also use the Purchase Cost Estimator on the Municipal Pension Plan and Public Service Pension Plan websites to prepare an unlimited number of estimates. This can help you to determine how much it will cost to purchase the service, how much your pension will increase by and how long it will take for your purchase to be recouped upon retirement. UPDATE

When your employment ends, it is referred to in the Plan Rules as “termination” of employment. It does not include situations where you have been laid off and you maintain a right of recall under a collective agreement.

UPDATE MAGAZINE October 2013

Staff Proﬁle

HERE’S WHO’S SUPPORTING BCNU MEMBERS AND LEADERS

LABOUR RELATIONS OFFICERS ELEANOR LONNEBERG AND LIZ HARGREAVES HELP INJURED MEMBERS GET BACK TO WORK ELEANOR LONNEBERG and Liz Hargreaves have a passion for their work, and it shows. The full-time Labour Relations Officers (LROs) are two of the more recent additions to BCNU’s Burnaby office staff, and they are primarily responsible for handling “duty to accommodate” cases for our members. Duty to accommodate stems from human rights legislation stipulating that employers may not discriminate against a worker based on a disability. Hargreaves explains that she and Lonneberg focus on the law, human rights and utilizing the Enhanced Disability Management Program (EDMP), which is part of the Nurses’ Bargaining Association collective agreement and has been formally implemented by health authorities this year. “Our focus is on people that are away from work because of a disability, and require some sort of medical accommodation to return to work,” she says. Lonneberg and Hargreaves bring years of knowledge and experience to their BCNU portfolios. Lonneberg is a long-time nurse – she went to her 35-year

nursing graduation reunion last month – whose path to labour relations seems natural looking back now. “I have a really keen sense of justice and fair play and I wanted to make sure that nurses got treated fairly,” she says. “I’ve always been one to read what’s in the contract, kind of like a Ward Rep on the unit where I worked,” she recalls, adding that it was no surprise when she eventually stepped into the role of Steward at

Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Vancouver. After successfully completing LRO training, Lonneberg made the decision to leave the bedside in order to “nurse the nurses.” She says her clinical background helps when she listens to members talk about their work. “I do understand what they mean, so it was a good decision to come here. The work is really satisfying.” Hargreaves came to BCNU on a different path. She began to work in clinical rehabilitation after completing a degree in kinesiology and worked in a collaborative, multi-disciplinary setting, primarily on return-towork, injury rehabilitation, and disability management cases. “My learning curve right out of university was so steep, but I

WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE Two of BCNU’s more recent Labour Relations Officers, Eleanor Lonneberg and Liz Hargreaves bring years of experience to their roles.

learned so much!” she recalls. Hargreaves went on to work as an adjudicator for the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board, and then moved to Sun Life Financial, working as a rehabilitation consultant. As a result, she brings a broad perspective on disability management to her work at BCNU. Familiarity with recovery periods, understanding long-term disability, WorkSafeBC, and how to access community resources is just some of the knowledge she uses daily. Lonneberg notes the “tripartite” nature of her work at BCNU, and explains the process requires the member, the employer and the union to work together to come to a solution. “Everybody, even the disability managers we work with, know it’s good for people to be back at work,” she says. “Nurses strongly identify with their profession, so just getting back to work is such a lift to them.” “We have an aging workforce, and there are a lot of reasons that people require accommodation,” says Lonneberg. Hargreaves agrees that nurses as a group are very committed to the work they do. “Nurses are defined by their passion. They love what they do and they just want to keep nursing,” she says. “I want to help them live out their career and enjoy nursing for as long as they possibly can. When I get a call from a nurse saying ‘thank you for helping me,’ that’s all I need. I can deal with the rest.” UPDATE

Council Proﬁle HERE’S WHO’S WORKING FOR YOU

GENUINE ARTICLE RIVA CHAIR LAUREN VANDERGRONDEN

LAUREN VANDERGRONDEN is one of the newer faces on BCNU Council. The Surreybased RN had been on the RIVA executive for four years, serving as secretary and steward liaison, before her predecessor Marnie Hewlett announced she’d be retiring. “When Marnie asked me to step up I thought. ‘are you nuts?’,” recalls Vandergronden “Marnie had so much experience – the request caught me off guard,” she says. Hewlett’s instincts were good. Vandergronden handily won last year’s election for RIVA Chair and has been busy in her role ever since. She says her prior experience as a steward liaison helped prepare her for the position. “RIVA is a diverse region with many sites in community, community mental health and addictions as well as

Richmond Hospital,” she says. Nevertheless, Vandergronden admits she’s been on a big learning curve this year presenting the changes in the latest Nurses’ Bargaining Association provincial contract to the members in her region. “The employer implemented a massive change to rotations that community nurses have worked for 30 to 40 years – this has been very difficult. Issues around the Pharmacare Tie-in have also been challenging, with many nurses left paying for their medications.” Vandergronden began her nursing career in 1977 after graduating from Vancouver Vocational Institute as an LPN. “I developed an interest in nursing when I visited seniors’ homes while playing in a concert band in high school,” she says.

She found her first job in Edmonton working on a medical unit before moving back to BC in 1979 to work at St Paul’s hospital on a thoracic and vascular surgical unit. In 1980 she moved to Royal Columbian Hospital’s orthopaedic unit working as either an LPN or a Unit Clerk. It was while she was working as an LPN and unit clerk at RCH that Vandergronden decided to return to school. She graduated from Douglas College in 1994, and worked again at RCH in orthopaedics an acute medicine, this time as an RN. In 1996 she completed the Cardiac Stepdown course at BCIT, and in 2003 she began working at HealthLinkBC. She was working there when she was elected as the RIVA regional Chair It was Vandergronden’s experience with a chronic injury that actually brought her into union activism. “I had been working at RCH as RN for four years when I had to go off with a significant injury and was unable to return,” she recalls. “I was on WCB for one year and LTD for three-and-a-half years. When I came back I decided to get involved in BCNU.” “My own experience prompted me to advocate for people who, like me, were on a leave and coming back on a gradual return to work or with a duty-to-accommodate,” she says. “I also suffered from depression which is very common when one is off from work with an injury. My experience helped me to

empathize with other members at HealthLinkBC who were also suffering with injuries and dealing with depression,” she says. “I know what it’s like when you want to get back to work but your body won’t let you.” Vandergronden has been a steward for 10 years now and says she’s learned a lot. “I have been able to assist many members with a variety of concerns in their workplaces and it makes me feel good to know that I have helped them and that they have appreciated my help.” “You have to listen to the members and answer the questions you are able, and if you can’t you just have to let them know that you will find out and get back to them as soon as you can,” she says when asked what makes an effective council member. “Being genuine, listening to the members, getting back to them in a timely fashion and keeping them in the loop about what is going on in the union on a regular basis are what’s important.” UPDATE QUICK FACTS NAME Lauren Vandergronden. GRADUATED Douglas College in 1994. UNION POSITION RIVA Chair. WHY I SUPPORT BCNU Because BCNU is there to assist us in ﬁghting for our rights, job security, beneﬁts and safe staffing levels in order for us to provide safe patient care.

Who Can Help?

BCNU IS HERE TO SERVE MEMBERS

REGIONAL REPS VANCOUVER METRO Colette Wickstrom Chair C 604-789-9240 cwickstrom@bcnu.org

BCNU CAN. Here’s how you can get in touch with the right person to help you.

COASTAL MOUNTAIN Kath-Ann Terrett Chair C 604-828-0155 kterrett@bcnu.org

CONTACT YOUR STEWARDS For all workplace concerns contact your steward. REGIONAL REPS If your steward can’t help, or for all regional matters, contact your regional rep. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE For all provincial, national or union policy issues, contact your executive committee.

CENTRAL VANCOUVER Judy McGrath Co-Chair C 604-970-4339 jmcgrath@bcnu.org Diane LaBarre Co-Chair C 604-341-5231 dlabarre@bcnu.org

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

TREASURER Mabel Tung C 604-328-9346 mtung@bcnu.org

PRESIDENT Debra McPherson C 604-209-4253 dmcpherson@bcnu.org

EXECUTIVE COUNCILLOR Marg Dhillon C 604-839-9158 mdhillon@bcnu.org

VICE PRESIDENT Christine Sorensen C 250-819-6293 christinesorensen@bcnu.org

EXECUTIVE COUNCILLOR Deb Ducharme C 250-804-9964 dducharme@bcnu.org

SHAUGHNESSY HEIGHTS Claudette Jut Chair C 604-786-8422 claudettejut@bcnu.org RIVA Lauren Vandergronden Chair C 604-785-8148 laurenvandergronden@bcnu.org SIMON FRASER Liz Ilczaszyn Co-Chair C 604-785-8157 lilczaszyn@bcnu.org

LPN REPS Debbie Picco Co-Chair C 604-209-4260 dpicco@bcnu.org

FRASER HEALTH Jonathan Karmazinuk C 604-312-0826 jonathankarmazinuk@bcnu.org

PROVIDENCE TBA

INTERIOR HEALTH Janet Elizabeth Van Doorn C 778-214-4798 janetvandoorn@bcnu.org

VANCOUVER COASTAL Marlene Goertzen C 778-874-9330 marlenegoertzen@bcnu.org

SOUTH FRASER VALLEY Cheryl Appleton Co-Chair C 604-839-8965 cappleton@bcnu.org

NORTHERN HEALTH Louise Weightman C 250-639-6436 louiseweightman@bcnu.org

VANCOUVER ISLAND Barry Phillips C 778-679-9737 barryphillips@bcnu.org

Lisa Walker Co-Chair C 604-880-9105 lisawalker@bcnu.org

FRASER VALLEY Linda Pipe Chair C 604-793-6444 lpipe@bcnu.org WEST KOOTENAY Lorne Burkart Chair C 250-354-5311 lorneburkart@bcnu.org EAST KOOTENAY Patt Shuttleworth Chair C 250-919-4890 pshuttleworth@bcnu.org NORTH WEST Sharon Sponton Chair C 250-877-2547 sharonsponton@bcnu.org NORTH EAST Jackie Nault Chair C 250-960-8621 jacquelinenault@bcnu.org OKANAGAN-SIMILKAMEEN Laurie Munday Chair C 250-212-0530 lmunday@bcnu.org THOMPSON NORTH OKANAGAN Tracy Quewezance Chair C 250-320-8064 tquewezance@bcnu.org SOUTH ISLANDS Adriane Gear Co-Chair C 778-679-1213 adrianegear@bcnu.org Margo Wilton Co-Chair C 250-361-8479 mwilton@bcnu.org PACIFIC RIM Jo Salken Chair C 250-713-7066 jsalken@bcnu.org

UPDATE MAGAZINE October 2013

Off Duty MEMBERS AFTER HOURS

PHOTO: Naramata.org Reprinted with permission

A NURTURING HAND JAMES YOUNG IS AN AVID GARDENER WHO SHARES HIS ENTHUSIAM AT WORK AND IN HIS COMMUNITY JAMES YOUNG KNOWS a thing or two about nurturing. The Penticton Regional Hospital RN is an avid gardener who devotes much of his time to projects at work and in the community. Young is the volunteer school liaison for the Naramata Community Garden Society. The society created gardens at the Naramata Village School three years ago and now supports students at the kindergarten-to-grade five school who are responsible for tending to the garden beds. “I took over the liaison role last year, and I worked with the school teachers to develop a planting and harvesting plan that would engage the students in the spring and fall and allow for minimal effort in the summer,” says Young. Naramata Village School has about 70 students and is an important part of this small community north of Penticton. This spring students harvested kale they planted last fall, from which they made kale chips. The entire school was involved

in planting potatoes, peas and carrots for Earth Day on April 22 – and the peas and carrots were harvested and devoured by the enthusiastic gardeners. Young says that students were looking forward to returning to school in September in order to harvest and enjoy their

crop of sweet corn, potatoes, carrots, melons and squash. “Students will help cook in the newly redeveloped school kitchen,” says Young. “What could be better than hot school lunches made from food grown at school by the children who are eating it?” Young’s commitment to this kind of community project comes naturally to the gardener, who started the Naramata Farmers’ Market with his wife 15 years ago. “Gardening is what I do to energize and relax after nursing,” says Young, who has worked on the medical floor at Penticton Regional Hospital since 2003. “I find gardening to be very creative. I like to have fresh fruit and I like to

CULTIVAING ENTHUSIASM Penticton Regional Hospital RN James Young helps students at Naramata Village School tend to their crops.

encourage others to grow their own food.” Young’s enthusiasm is not restricted to his time outside work. He has also developed a roof-top garden at Penticton’s Hospital that has become a refuge for patients and staff. “When I started on the floor we had a patio on the roof that had become a dumping ground for old furniture. I got fed up with seeing it like that, so I removed the furniture and I started putting plants up there,” says Young. “We didn’t have a hose to start with so the patients in the transition unit who were waiting for care would water the plants by hand. It gave them something to do,” he recalls. “We grow strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and we’ve got a grapevine, a peach tree, a nectarine tree, some clematis, and kiwis,” he says, noting that some of the plants have been donated by families in memory of loved ones who have enjoyed the garden. “It’s a place where a lot of patients and staff now come,” he says. “We’ve even had patients come out of ICU to come up in their bed to die on the deck so they can be outside.” For Young, both nursing and gardening are about nurturing. “You’re nurturing your patients to help them to get better and move on with their lives and you’re helping kids discover how their food comes from nurturing soil and nature,” he explains. “It’s all about putting something back.” UPDATE

BRINGING RPNs TOGETHER Strong stewards Support for specialized practices Strengthening RPNs’ voice That’s why BCNU is uniting nurses

Learn more at BCNURPN.org RPNs Rhonda and Joseff switched to BCNU in 2012.

one purpose. one union.

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