Nurses are under increasing pressure due to changes to health care, according to a Jasper nurse.

Megan Derksen is a nurse in Jasper as well as the local union president for the United Nurses of Alberta. She’s worried potential cuts to the health care system could undermine health care services in Alberta.

“I’m getting concerned Alberta is cutting funding during a pandemic. These cutbacks are an attack on our community and personal services,” Derksen said.

Cuts haven’t hit Jasper directly yet, Derksen said, as there have been no layoffs. However all hospitals across the province were asked to cut five per cent of their budget. But the hospital has been under a hiring freeze since May. Prior to the freeze, the government had identified a 1,500 nursing shortfall and expects 50 per cent of registered nurses to retire in the next five years. Derksen said it doesn’t make sense, and also notes there is enough overtime being put in to justify the creation of a new position.

“There are some who say nurses are overtime driven. Nobody wants overtime. We routinely miss breaks or go entire shifts without going to the bathroom,” Derksen said. 

Nurses will be negotiating a new contract with the province in November, and Derksen is concerned about the perception of nurses in Alberta.

Janet Barker, a longtime supporter of Seton Hospital, recently voiced her concerns over a perceived lack of nursing staff at the hospital to the provincial government.

“During a recent two week hospitalization at Jasper’s Seton Hospital, I was fortunate to witness first-hand the excellence with which that facility’s nurses operate. I was appalled, however to observe the unacceptable condition under which these health care professionals are expected to carry out their duties,” wrote Barker in a recent letter to Health Minister Ron Liepert.

Barker said there were an insufficient number of nurses on duty during her stay, which occurred during the peak tourism season.

“There were instances of a solitary nurse being left in charge of the supervision and care of 12 patients, two of whom were in intensive care and two of whom were in the hallway due to an insufficient number of beds, for 12 hours at a time.”

Concerned with changes made to the health care system, Barker, a longtime conservative and Ed Stelmach supporter, said Jasper faces unique pressures due to the large influx of tourists every summer. Seton General Hospital only has 10 beds, but the town receives 2 million visitors a year.

“I demand to know why nurses are being laid off in Alberta and how, according to your ministry, the laying off of health care professionals improves the efficiency and effectiveness of health care service delivery,” wrote Barker.

The premier did respond to her letter, stating that Minister Liepert would write to her about her requests. And while Minister Liepert has been busy with H1N1, Barker concedes, she’s still waiting for her explanation.

Nurses are under pressure from H1N1, Derksen said, which is creating stress. About 40 per cent of nurses are expected to contract swine flu, which is worrisome to staff. She cites the SARS crisis, where two nurses became ill with the disease, and notes nurses protect a community much in the same way firefighters and paramedics do.

She is also concerned about a psychiatric facility in Edmonton that is rumoured to be on the chopping block. Those in need of psychiatric services in Jasper are sent to Edmonton for treatment, and if the facility closes, Jasperites would have even farther to travel. 

Derksen wants Jasperites to write to the provincial government to oppose potential cuts to health care.

According to MLA Robin Campbell, health care is one of the areas in the budget that will see an increase in funding, and the provincial government has identified education and health care as priorities for Albertans.

Seton General Hospital’s manager Lorna Chisholm could not be reached for comment by deadline.