The pressure caused by the Quebec government’s desire for nurses to be mobile is added to the feeling of non-recognition among health personnel, who are now desperate and disinterested, according to a manager.
• Also read: Tense negotiations: FIQ reveals government offer
• Also read: Quebec offer published by the FIQ: “she wants to shake things up and do harm”
If, in all good faith, health personnel hope that the stormy negotiations between the Interprofessional Health Federation of Quebec [FIQ] and the government will succeed and improve the health system, at least half no longer know why they are in this system, estimates Marie-Ève, manager in the health network and nurse.
“The post-pandemic period has still been difficult, because the feeling of having been useful, of having been recognized by the ministry, has worn off. […]”There are a lot of people leaving the profession, nurses, orderlies, administrative agents, it really affects everyone, a kind of general despair. Nurses have almost stopped following the negotiations, it’s as if there was a lack of interest,” explained Marie-Ève, in an interview with QUB.
Jean-François, who has worked closely with nurses his entire life, confirms that the principle of mobility stresses the staff, in addition to the atypical hours.
“The fact remains that the way it works is that they will pair up departments, a department that may be more attractive to a nurse, depending on what she prefers, with a department that interests her less,” he explained to Isabelle Maréchal.
By changing floors, departments or even centres, it is the equipment that changes, the colleagues, the doctors and all the points of reference that contribute to the smooth running of the work of this staff, he continued.
Montreal and patients will suffer
For Lyne, a nurse who works in the healthcare sector, it is the patients who will be victims of this mobility.
“If you have a car and you take it to the garage to get it repaired, they tell you the mechanic is sick today, but there is one who is there to help you out. Do you trust them? You will not leave your car, but your body, you will leave it at the hospital,” she illustrated.
For Marie-Ève, this desire for mobility from Quebec will especially affect the centres on the island of Montreal, and she fears an exodus of staff.
“The creation of the general agency of the health network will lead to the merger of seniority and for that, all of greater Montreal will be the biggest loser because people, over the years, have settled in the region, and even more so during the post-pandemic, so all these people will be able to change centers without losing their seniority, while keeping their conditions,” added the manager, who thinks that the staff from the island of Montreal who live in the region will leave.
“At the HR level, it is an extremely difficult dynamic to organize [la mobilité] and that really scares the top directors of the big organizations in Quebec, because we know that there is going to be an exodus, the majority of nurses who work on the island of Montreal do not live on the island of Montreal,” she continued.
“How are we going to manage to cover the front lines, the tertiary centres, the specialist centres that we have on the island of Montreal?” she asked.
The FIQ rejected Quebec’s offer and asked its members to stop overtime as a pressure tactic. The Minister responsible for Government Administration, Sonia LeBel, however reiterated her wish that negotiations continue in order to reach an agreement.
Negotiations began in January 2023.
