Winnipeg nurse says staff raised safety concerns before patient died while waiting for care

A nurse who was working in Manitoba's largest hospital when a man died while waiting for care last week says duringthe last year,staff havebeen warninghospital executives and the government that an incident like this could possiblyhappen.

"A lot of us were really sad, especially since we tried so hard to prevent something like this [from] happening," said the Health Sciences Centre emergency department nurse. "The hardest thing was that this patient essentially died alone in the hallway."

The chief operating officer of Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre said at a news conference last week a patient was brought to the department by ambulance at around 11:30 p.m. on Feb. 27, and they were assessed and triaged.

Dr. Shawn Young said about an hour later staff were alerted the patient's condition had worsened, and while medical intervention took place at that point, the patient died.

An investigation is looking at the patient's time in the emergency department as a potential critical incident.

Young said the emergency room was at or nearly at baseline staffing that night, but that they were seeing double the amount of the highest acuity patients.

Two nurses who work in the emergency department at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre spoke to CBC about the death, but both asked for anonymity out of fear of losing their jobs. The first nurse who was working that evening as well as the second nurse both said the emergency department was very busy that day.

The second nurse said on the day the patient died, while there were four triage nurses working, there were more than 40 patients waiting for care including several waiting in the EMS hallway.

"The patients did not stop coming in," said the first nurse.

Overcapacity protocol in place: WRHA

There were also challenges moving admitted patients out of the emergency department into other units at the hospital, meaning there was very little bed flow for patients coming into emergency, they said.

While Young said the hospital's overcapacity protocols went into effect last Tuesday in an effort to improve patient flow, the second nurse questioned why it took a death for that to happen.

"Sunday, it was bad. Monday, it was bad. But then Tuesday miraculously all these people have beds."

"What we're having a hard time with is this man had no dignity," the second nurse said.

"He died in a hallway by himself."

CBC asked Shared Health whether the overcapacity protocol was activated after the patient died, and why it wasn't put in place earlier in the week.

A spokesperson for Shared Health said in an email "It would be inappropriate to provide comment on specific aspects of this review while it is ongoing."

The statement said an update will be provided when the investigation is complete.

Concerns raised before

Nurses have been raising concerns about how busy the department can get, the first nurse said, as well the need for more staffing and the challenges moving patients out of the emergency department into other hospital units.

Nurses have been warning hospital administrators and the government that a patient was going to die in the waiting room if nothing changed to improve conditions in the department, according to the first nurse.

"We've tried to talk with the hospital executives, we've talked with the government, we have tried to bring to light all the issues and patient safety concerns that we've had," the first nurse said.

"I think it's fair, open and honest [for] the public to know that these conversations have been happening between nurses and public executives."

The whole hospital system is currently strained, said the nurse.

A spokesperson for Shared Health said in a statement that hospital leaders regularly meet with physicians and nurses to talk about patient flow challenges affecting HSC's emergency department.

"Many initiatives brought forward by staff as ways to improve patient flow in the ED have been implemented, with conversations ongoing on further ideas that are being considered," the statement said.

The statement said recruiting efforts are also underway to improve vacancy rates.

CBC News sent questions to Health Minister Audrey Gordon's office Monday, but did not receive a response.

HSC nurses raise safety concerns in ER

1 year ago

Duration 2:12

A nurse who was working in Manitoba's largest hospital when a man died while waiting for care last week says during the last year, staff have been warning hospital executives and the government that an incident like this could possibly happen.