Nurses seem skeptical of Health Minister Christian Dubé’s wish to abolish compulsory overtime (TSO).
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In an interview on the Mario Dumont program on LCN on Tuesday morning, Mr. Dubé said he would like to end the TSO, but that several conditions must be met.
“I think that if we introduce work schedules that are more flexible, which are decided by the nurses, that is to say that they are involved in managing their schedule, I think we will be able to eliminate the OSI fairly quickly,” he said.
A wishful thinking, according to the president of the Quebec Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ), Julie Bouchard.
“Do I still believe in it? I believe in it slightly, because in 2018, it was already an election promise that had been made. Four years later, compulsory overtime is exploding everywhere,” she laments.
The persistence of the TSO continues even though the Order of Nurses of Quebec (OIIQ) has more than 82,000 members, a record number.
“It’s not a question that he lacks arms. The question is that there is a real lack of political leadership and administrative leadership at the manager level,” explains Ms. Bouchard.
The most recent data from the OIIQ indicate that 2,400 nurses work in private agencies, an increase of 19% over the past year.
Many of them made this choice to avoid having to work compulsory overtime.
While the TSO has not been abolished, the labor shortage is rife and the trio of viruses are hitting hard, the nurses continue to keep the health network at arm’s length.
“I think we’re kind of in survival mode right now. I mean we have patients to take care of. When you are a nurse, you have the gift of self. I mean, it’s important for us to take care of our patients. We just have no choice, they are there,” said Sylvie Tanguay, pediatric head nurse assistant at the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS, in an interview with TVA Nouvelles.