Fighting overload, or how to tackle a huge challenge

This article was published in the second edition of La Résonance magazine.

Do you know how to tackle a huge challenge? One step at a time. Taking action against an overload is a big undertaking that can easily be discouraging. But mobilizing work teams and union action remain the best ways to fight cynicism and denounce the dangerous effects of an overload on care, one department at a time.

Contact your union

The enormous size of healthcare institutions complicates the role of your grievance agents, who cannot be everywhere at once. It is therefore important to get into the habit of contacting them, because without information, they cannot defend you.

Here are a few reasons to contact your union (but there are many more… your grievance agents want to know everything!) Petit dessin potin?

• Job cuts and non-replacement
• Increase in workload
• Carrying out tasks that belong to another job title
• Impossible to take breaks and meal periods
• Systematic imposition of MOT

Report dangerous situations

When the working conditions on your centre of activities endanger the quality and safety of care, it’s essential to report it. By completing the Safe Staffing Form, you can alert your union team in a simple and confidential manner. With the information gathered, it can develop a clear picture of the safety issues and take concrete action with the employer to remedy the situation. It is a very useful tool for fighting overload!

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Organize among colleagues

Is your work environment inadequate? Is the equipment you need stored too far away? Is there insufficient training to support new colleagues? Are absences not replaced? Does your employer prevent you from performing tasks autonomously even though they are part of your scope of practice?

All these irritants have an impact on your daily workload, which can quickly become unsustainable. If you or your colleagues are exhausted, if you are thinking of changing departments or reorienting your career, if certain care is being omitted or done too quickly, it is time to take action to change things.

Being overloaded with work is not inevitable.

Your managers have the power to implement measures that can make your work easier, but the chances of this happening are much greater when faced with a united, motivated, organized team that is supported by its union.

Demand safe ratios
(Yes, ratios again!😉)

Implementing safe healthcare professional-to-patient ratios has been a long-standing battle. So long, in fact, that it can feel like a broken record. But let’s remember that most social struggles have been won through repetition and perseverance.

Limiting the number of patients that a care team can take on makes a world of difference in terms of workload. With safe ratios in place, it becomes impossible for employers to keep asking more and more of healthcare professionals. That is why we must continue to call for political action to implement ratios, while also putting pressure on managers.

The CAQ has always refused to consider ratios as a solution for the health network, but it is increasingly isolated in its position. In fact, several Canadian provinces have started to deploy ratios. The October 2026 electoral campaign will certainly be an opportunity to emphasize the importance of safe ratios with the candidates and public who elect them. Start talking about it with your friends and family!

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