St. B moves to cut mandatory OT for nurses

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This article was published 16/12/2021 (1385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A St. Boniface Hospital memo informing its nurses mandatory overtime shifts would be replaced with voluntary overtime has sparked concern of even wider staff shortages amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lengthy email — shared on social media by an anonymous source with names blacked out — appears to have been sent Tuesday.

It says, effective immediately, mandated overtime shifts will only be used “for true emergent circumstances where life/limb are at risk.” It asks nurses to “come together as a team” to voluntarily pick up additional shifts when they are available.

“Without sufficient uptake from everyone to fill open shifts voluntarily, the reality will be that some shifts remain unfilled and units maybe working short or nurses may be reassigned more frequently,” the email reads.

A spokesperson from St. Boniface Hospital confirmed Wednesday the memo had been issued, but said they had “no further comment to add beyond what is in the memo.”

The email suggests nurses have been and will continue to be reassigned within the hospital to units with increased staffing needs: “If a unit identifies a nursing need but declines a reassigned nurse to support staffing, the unit will be required to work short and will not be able to augment staffing through mandating.”

This reported shifting of responsibility is concerning, said Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson.

“Basically, what it is, is they’re asking nurses to volunteer once again,” she said, adding the union had heard concerns from nurses such changes were looming.

“Nurses in this province have been asked to give up their vacation, have asked to increase their EFTs or increase the number of shifts they’re working… It’s just another way of having nurses volunteer to keep the system glued together.”

Jackson said attempting to reduce mandated overtime is a good idea but announcing the change in this way implies mandated OT has been used as an attempt to keep staffing at a baseline — and even that hasn’t been effective.

“The question is: are we now going to be working, in order for them to stop mandated overtime… with much higher patient loads and how is that going to affect patient care?” she said.

“I think it’s a positive thing that they want to reduce mandated overtime, but the bottom line is our facilities are functioning on overtime.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca