Licensed practical nurse Ian Goodwin in Vancouver, B.C., 2022.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Ian Goodwin

An LPN formerly at Royal Inland Hospital blames upper management of the Interior Health Authority for the staffing crisis at the hospital.

Ian Goodwin worked at the hospital from 2008 to 2020 as a float nurse in every department and toward the end of his time there, primarily in the emergency department.

“It was bad at the time I left and I'm sure it is even worse now,” he said.

Goodwin said while most managers he worked for were supportive, during his time at Royal Inland Hospital managers in upper positions fostered an unsupportive environment, allowed for dangerous patient-to-staff ratios and did not replace nurses when they called in sick. He said several nurses and middle managers have left because of it, and it was a contributing factor in his own departure.

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“An upper manager at Royal Inland came in there in 2015 and changed everything around,” he said. “The manager bullied the nurses, changed staffing numbers and added more paperwork, taking us away from our patient’s bedside. There was consistent lack of transparency and communication with hospital staff.”

Goodwin said it was normal for him to have seven patients under his care on a medical or surgical ward each night, and sometimes five or six on dayshifts when the contract states a four to one ratio of patients to nurses. He believes the inadequate ratios were a cost saving tactic.

“Management was continually pushing more patients with fewer nurses and not replacing sick calls,” he said. "More nurses working means more money and why have eight nurses do the job that four can do unsafely? I was a floater and would often show up to work to find out the previous shift worked short staffed and no one had phoned me to come in.”

Goodwin said his questions to management about unsafe working conditions would be ignored.

According to Worksafe B.C., nurses are allowed to refuse unsafe work, which Goodwin finds to be ironic.

“If we refused to work because of unsafe nurse-to-patient ratios, or because of violent patients that the hospital refused to discharge because they are at risk, then we are in dereliction of duty and could lose our jobs, or worse face criminal charges for putting our patients at risk,” he said. 

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Goodwin currently works for Fraser Health at six different hospitals.

“I immediately saw the difference when I came here,” he said. “The manager apologized to me if I had five patients in my care at night. I most often work in the emergency departments at various hospitals and the management is far better and more respectful.”

Goodwin said all the hospitals he is working at in the lower mainland have been facing various levels of staffing shortages since the pandemic began.

Goodwin plans to complete another 12 years of nursing despite the stress and difficulty the job brings, but he doesn’t recommend others go down the same path. He said nurses he knows from his time working at Royal Inland Hospital are leaving for other types of careers in things like real estate and design.

“I don’t see myself doing anything else,” he said. “I’m educated and trained to help my patients through critical moments in their lives and feel privileged to do so, but I wouldn’t suggest young people pursue nursing given the current state affairs that don’t appear to be improving any time soon.”

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His biggest hope as he continues on his career is to help change the system to reduce the risks to healthcare workers and patients that come with understaffed units, and push the government to take a closer look at the management system. 

“Patients have died unnecessarily because of decisions to save money over patient care,” he said. “We need to be the voice that our union doesn’t provide for us. We have been silenced in fear of reprisals or loss of employment.”

Goodwin wants more patients and their families complaining and petitioning the government regarding the inadequate care they or their loved ones receive.

“We need action by way of safe staffing levels,” he said. “Patient priority is number one, the government and health authorities have demonstrated this is not theirs.”

In an emailed statement to iNFOnews, the Interior Health Authority said staffing challenges are being experienced across the health sector at the Royal Inland Hospital.

"We are actively recruiting to fill vacancies and increase staffing compliments throughout the Kamloops region and across Interior Health," said the authority. "Interior Health's priority is to ensure patients have access to appropriate care, especially emergency care, while we work to address current staffing challenges."

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