B.C. nurses are getting anxious as provincial supplies of personal protective equipment run low during the pandemic.
The BC Nurses Union says they have received 1,700 complaints since March 20 from nurses who are “increasingly concerned” that employers are unable to provide gear such as gowns, gloves, face shields and N95 respirator masks.
BCNU president Christine Sorensen says employers are asking nurses to take “questionable measures” to preserve PPE.
“Nurses are getting only one mask per shift. Others have been told to leave their used mask on a piece of paper towel when they go on a break,” she says.
Sorensen says the BCNU is questioning what the state of B.C.’s pandemic response measures or other disease transmission before the crisis began.
“Respirators, masks and other PPE are meant to be the last line of defense for care providers, after all other control measures are in place,” explains Sorensen. “The fact that some hospital emergency rooms still have triage desks without plexi-glass barriers, like the ones now present in grocery stores and food processing plants, is quite simply beyond me.”
Health Minister Adrian Dix has spoken at length about the challenges sourcing PPE on the global market. On April 20, he said the province is getting close to having to deploy “alternative” PPE gear.
“We are approaching that point, where we will need to introduce alternative PPE. Our healthcare workers have done a great job extending use and conserving products,” Dix said.
“But it is running low. Like other jurisdictions, we are struggling to find products in the context of all this global demand.”
He assured healthcare workers that rigorous testing and certification is being undertaken for PPE coming from new vendors.
