Nurses working in the Halifax Infirmary Emergency Department (ED) recently wrote a letter to Nova Scotia politicians on the nurses’ distress following the government’s inability to address the emergency department’s retention crisis.

The Jan. 23 letter, which was agreed upon by the nurses in the department, was sent to the premier, minister of health and CEO of Nova Scotia Health. And it was sent by the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) in hopes that government and the employer would take immediate action but have not.

“We, the front line Registered Nurses in the ED, have bore witness to the ongoing health care crisis with beginnings far outdating the pandemic. Now, as we stand on the other side of that pandemic, it’s in an unravelling and hazardous health care landscape that’s experiencing a “brain drain” of skilled RNs,” the letter reads.

NSGEU First Vice President Hugh Gillis said the nurses’ letter was made public Monday in hopes that Nova Scotians will be aware of how frontline workers are feeling, and that their requests are not being met.

“The NSGEU represents the nurses at the QEII emergency department. The nurses are not able to speak out so they’ve asked the union to speak on their behalf. The letter outlines working conditions that are totally unacceptable. And since we never heard back from the government, we released the letter and made it public,” said Gillis.

The letter focuses on the retention of QEII nurses and how Nova Scotia Health has become reliant on hiring travel nurses and how that’s affecting the department.

“What Nova Scotians need to realize is that these travel nurses working side by side with our public nurses are being paid double. And so travel agencies are also charging the government a fee for service so it’s very demoralizing for our workers, understandably, they’re upset,” said Gillis.

Travel nurses work for an agency and provide services to hospitals around the province, where and when they’re needed to do so. On average, a senior nurse’s wage is $40 an hour while travel nurses are making about $80.

“[And] the emergency departments require a special skill set. We need the right mix of nurses. We need senior nurses to mentor our junior nurses. And right now, that’s not happening. Our senior nurses are leaving the profession because the incentives are not there for our current nurses,” added Gillis.

Gillis said the government could provide incentives to keep the nurses from leaving, such as increasing their wages and giving better work hours since there is currently no work-life balance in the department.

“There’s an immediate need right now, you know, our hospitals are about 50 percent of nurses, our nurse-patient ratio is getting higher and higher. You can’t expect the nurses to be working 16-hour days, sometimes five and six days a week,” he added.