Nurses from Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec will continue alone this Saturday. The strike launched this week by public sector workers to denounce a measure introduced by their employer that they fear will spread to the province.
Published at 1:59 am. Updated at 6:00 am.
“I came home in the morning with fear in my stomach as I thought about the moment I would be sent away [travailler] in CHSLD. I was afraid of making mistakes regarding patient health and losing my license to practice medicine. I couldn’t sleep at night,” says Jacynthe Milot, an occupational health nurse.
For her, as for several of her colleagues, a new measure introduced at the beginning of the year at the Integrated University Center for Health and Social Services of Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Québec (CIUSSS MCQ) had the effect of a bomb. She recently resigned after working there for 18 years.
The measure in question, announced last February and then implemented from March, aims to reduce pressure in the sectors where the needs are greatest, especially those that are permanently open, according to the CIUSSS MCQ .
Nursing staff are called upon to help in these areas at least every third weekend. The CIUSSS points out that nurses are not called upon to move “from one mission to another,” meaning that they are generally sent to areas that correspond to their expertise.
“Someone who is mentally ill will not go into geriatrics at the level of the elderly, but could move into a sector related to psychiatry,” explains communications consultant Guillaume Cliche.
Catastrophic effects
But nurses working in health care, those who work in screening or vaccination clinics, are assigned a CHSLD, confirms the Union of Nurses of Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec, affiliated with the Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ). ).
However, interim president Patricia Mailhot regrets that this approach had catastrophic consequences.
After 20 years [d’expérience dans leurs milieux], [des infirmières œuvrant en santé préventive] are completely destabilized. It has been 20 years since they became desperate to care for the elderly.
Patricia Mailhot, interim president of the Union of Healthcare Professionals of Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec
At least 200 of the 850 nurses working in Drummondville (the first location where the measure was implemented) may have retired early or resigned since the beginning of the year, as Jacynthe Milot did.
The CIUSSS MCQ explains that it had to resort to this measure to maintain the quality of services and prevent the exodus of staff in the most stressed sectors. “We observed that the pressure in important sectors, such as those that are open 24 hours a day, was still very, very high,” explains communications consultant Guillaume Cliche.
The latter underlines that since this new work organization came into force, “certain positive factors” have been observed, in particular a reduction in mandatory overtime for nurses.
“But we remain cautious in the context of this analysis as other measures may have contributed,” he adds, also pointing to a decline in absenteeism due to COVID-19.
“Tip of the iceberg”
This new work organization was implemented in accordance with the collective agreement, states the CIUSSS MCQ. A fact that union representative Patricia Mailhot does not dispute, but believes that it is based on clauses from a time when the network was smaller.
And as Quebec Premier François Legault proposes improving his offer to public sector workers in exchange for more “flexibility,” Patricia Mailhot warns nurses in other regions.
“What is happening in Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec is the tip of the iceberg,” she said, reiterating that the Ministry of Health and Social Services intends to extend this measure to all of Quebec. “They want to form large units, take experienced nurses and send them everywhere to fill gaps. »
Members of the Mauricie and Center-du-Québec Health Professionals Union voted for two more days of strike to denounce the implementation of this measure. The premiere takes place this Saturday.
This week Jacynthe Milot went on strike because she now works for a school service center and was able to meet several of her former colleagues. She is relieved about her change of employer. “It’s another beautiful environment and we are treated better there,” she emphasizes.