Cuts unsafe for residents and staff: Youville worker

Don Wells visits his wife Dorothy, 83, at Youville Home every day.

After suffering a stroke in July 2012, Dorothy has very short-term memory and uses a wheelchair to get around.

Youville staff members are extremely conscientious and do a terrific job, says Don, 83.

However, he has heard rumblings from staff dissatisfied about rotation changes announced by Covenant Health late in November.

Across three sites and 650 staff at the Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre, St. Joseph's Auxiliary Hospital and Youville Home, there will be a net reduction of five full-time equivalent nursing and therapeutic staff.

The United Nurses of Alberta say changes will result in the elimination of at least six registered nursing positions across the three sites.

“It's not going to affect Dorothy because everybody knows I'm there every day and they've got to look after her,” says Don.

The main concern of one Youville employee, whose name will not be published to protect her job, is for the wellbeing of all the other residents who don't have family ensuring they get the care they need.

The home is chronically short-staffed, employees don't even have time to give residents two baths per week, she says.

“It's never happened. Never. We don't have time to brush their teeth, which is a travesty, but it's honest.”

Under the new rotations there is no way staff will be available to give baths after supper, she says.

“You have to choose between giving someone a bath and caring for all of those other residents. What are you going to do?”

Around 174 staff at Youville will be affected by the changes – a 2.65 full-time equivalent staff reduction.

Thirty-eight full-time equivalent positions at Youville have been downgraded to 0.7 or 0.8 full-time equivalents, says the United Steelworkers, which represents health care aides and LPNs.

Currently there are up to nine aides working during the day on Units 1 and 2 and seven staff until 9:30 p.m. in the evening, says the employee.

When the realignment is implemented March 27, 2015, those in the new rotation will work a shorter shift from 2 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Four aides will be responsible for putting more than 120 residents to bed.

“You can imagine that not all of them will be in bed at 8:30 p.m.,” she says.

With many residents requiring two-person mechanical lifts, as well as dealing with complex behaviours, she is concerned for the safety of both residents and staff.

“It's important that you are talking to them and hearing them rather than just getting the care done,” says the employee.

But with only 10 minutes allotted to get a resident ready for breakfast – to change, wash hands and face, get them dressed and transferred to the dining room – anything beyond physical care is impossible, she says.

Critics including United Steelworkers, Friends of Medicare and the United Nurses of Alberta say there will be no continuity of care for patients as a result of the realignment.

Changes to staff rotations are part of a “culture change” in long-term care toward a patient-centred care model to provide more individualized care, representatives from Youville said in previous interviews with the Gazette.

Staffing levels are highest in the mornings for meals, bathing and assessments. Under the new model, staff members will be spread out more evenly throughout the day and allowing them to work to their full scope of practice.

AUPE members held a rally outside the Edmonton General Dec. 10 to protest Covenant Health's move to reduce hours for hundreds of workers.

“There is some huge concerns about how this was done,” says Guy Smith, AUPE president, adding the union has filed grievances with Covenant Health.

“Regardless of that, there's a moral issue as well. How you as an employer say that your staff are the most important component of your organization, yet you treat them with such disregard and disrespect.”

AUPE represents health care aides and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) at Edmonton General and St. Joseph's Auxiliary as well as general support services staff at Youville.

The realignment is projected to save Covenant Health an estimated $1.4 million.