Nurses criticize lack of PPE gear

The union representing B.C.’s nurses is slamming provincial health officials who say there is enough protective equipment to go around during the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 1,700 complaints have been filed with the B.C. Nurses’ Union (BCNU) since March 20 from nurses who say there aren’t enough gowns, gloves, face shields and N95 respirator masks to protect them while working during the pandemic, according to the union.

“Respirators, masks and other (personal protective equipment) are meant to be the last line of defence for care providers, after all other control measures are in place,” said BCNU president Christine Sorensen. “The fact that some hospital emergency rooms still have triage desks without Plexiglas barriers, like the ones now present in grocery stores and food-processing plants, is quite simply beyond me.”

Sorensen said it’s also troubling to hear about the requests being put forward by employers such as nurses being given just one mask per shift or being told to leave their used mask on a piece of paper towel when they’re on break, in an effort to preserve or stretch PPE supplies.

The union says it’s also concerned about the reported use of expired PPE or reports of used masks being reprocessed.

During the April 20 health briefing, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix had said that while the province was able to source additional PPE from other vendors and manufacturers, there would be a point at which PPE would need to be reused or alternative PPE introduced.

“Our health-care workers have done a great job extending use and conserving the products that we typically use in our health system, but it is running low,” he said. “Like other jurisdictions, we’re struggling to replace our traditional products in the context of all of this global demand.”