Why are we staying in the public network?

Why do we stay in the public network? That is the question we have all asked at one time or another. Virginie Beffort, Nurse Clinician since 2015 in various settings, notably at the Poison Control Centre and Emergency Room at the Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis, found the right words to answer this question:  “There is this whole therapeutic relationship where you have to be gentle, where you have to be patient, and at the same time, there is this urgency to act, to have the scientific knowledge to identify problems and collaborate with other professionals. It is this dichotomy that gives the profession its meaning.”

Despite her enthusiasm for healthcare, she remains keenly aware of the current situation in the network and points out the many challenges that make the work more demanding: mental overload, MOT, high number of patients, etc. In 2023, these difficulties prompted her to make a heartfelt plea to her managers and on social media. The message was very clear: “We can’t take it anymore.”  This was the catalyst for her commitment to bringing about change.

Following this initiative, she attended a Committee on Care, implemented for the Emergency Room at the Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis, to find solutions for the overload. An enriching and enlightening experience. “It’s difficult to change how things are done in this large machine that is the health network, but I think it’s the little changes that will make a big difference. The Committee on Care helped us by listening to our concerns, balancing overtime between units, adding stretchers at the start of shifts, and providing increased supervision for younger teams.”

Despite all these advances and the renewed hope they bring, Virginie Beffort emphasizes the importance of structural changes: “There’s still a lot of work to do. I think that introducing ratios would allow us to return to the very essence of our profession. To find the perfect balance between the therapeutic relationship and the scientific side, to take the time and at the same time be able to act in an emergency.” It’s this balance that would allow us to stop asking ourselves the question and simply say… we are staying.