We might well ask who is burying their head in the sand
Wanting to defend a project at all costs, one often comes up with an argument which has nothing to do with reality. That is what I told myself when reading the article that was in today’s issue of Le Soleil. It was reporting the words of Gyslaine Desrosiers, President of the Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec, on the initial training of nurses and the skills that they obtain, depending on whether they come from a college or university background.
According to Ms Desrosiers, college training is inadequate for a nurse to work in a critical care unit. She even goes so far as to say that this represents a risk to public protection.
For heaven’s sake! That means that for many years the entire public has been put in danger without anyone intervening? Such statements reveal a profound misunderstanding of the reality in the field as to the integration and training of new hires. Without talking about such contempt for the thousands of nurses who, everyday, struggle to provide care, reassure the patients and their families, save lives… and this, despite a shortsighted management system, in which the administrators have become experts in manipulating numbers and who are the ones compensated rather than those who carry the health network on their backs!
If we have seen an increase in the risk to public protection over the last few years, it is more the result of the poor management methods which have resulted in the basic teams having withered away in numbers due to an inadequate recognition of the levels of responsibility, by a job structure that no longer has any link to the real needs in the workplace where we virtually only find “heavy” cases.
A new nurse, when she is left alone with too much responsibility will always find herself lacking, regardless if she is a graduate of a cegep or a university. Not recognizing the responsibility of the employer in such situations, that Ms Desrosiers, is burying your head in the sand.
On a more positive note, I want to take this opportunity to wish all the healthcare professionals a great summer and an enjoyable vacation to those who will have the chance to take vacation. Always be sure to keep some quality time for your loved ones. Take care of yourselves!