that is really bad when anyone in the emergency rm has to wait that kinda time to be seen when I will bet money that some of the staff are over across 9th ave smoking!

I totally agree with you about visiting the ER ... Doctors and nurses stand around at the desk socializing and laughing... my daughter was assaulted by 3 women and i brought her to the ER hoping we would be seen asap.. but nope... 4 hours later, I went and asked when they would see her as she was in BAD shape. They told me that as it was 2:30 in the morning the bars would be letting out and they would be seeing the bar rush first. By then we had already been there since 10 p.m. I was very upset and told them that I was going to take my daughter home and they had the nerve to ask me if i was going to bring her back in the morning..... I SAID I WILL NEVER BRING HER BACK HERE AGAIN. Needless to say i brought her to the walk-in clinic the next morning and she was seen by a doctor emmediately. I had to take it upon myself to do what they should have done at the hospital.. such as take photos of her injuries and bring them to the police. The emergency room staff here need to amp up their bedside manners and skills and do their job properly and efficeintly.

Don't get me started on the hospital here!!! Too long of a list of bad experiences to list, the wait times are right up there at the top. The one that is at the top though is the fact that "they" almost killed my grandson and we had to rush him to Saskatoon where they shook their heads in disbelief that they actually did what they did. In the end we ended up flying him to Edmonton where he made a full recovery and is doing great now. I will never go to the hospital here...like I said way too long of a list. I will drive to Saskatoon if I need to go...it's only an hour drive and I get in right away :)

Tim you are so right!!! Also I would like to point out that many people could use the walk-in clinics more than they do during their open hours.

The er room here is horrid. I broke my foot in two parts and after waiting for 3.5 hours I was able to see a paramedic who was in training. Thankfully, he took his job seriously because he was the only person I seen. He told me I had to wait for the xray tech to be called in, which was another 2 hours and finally got half a cast put on, by the paramedic. What a crying shame, the nurses cry about wages, sick time, leave etc, maybe they should work for their money. Their should be complaint cards available by the door so be given to the unions, dept heads, the mla, anyone who could change the way these so called health reps treat patients. And the people on this site, have legitimate reasons to complain. The nurses do stand around talking about everything under the sky other than the patients needing care.

I sat with my mother for 6 hours waiting to be seen. All we saw were young nurses in white pants with their colored thongs showing through the fabric. This so called "Emergency Room", is Prince Albert's greatest embarrassement.

My experience with the ER at the Victoria Hospital in P.A. was watching the nurses socializing at the main desk,playing card games on the computer,drinking Tim Horton's coffee,continuously texting(middle of the night) and applying lipgloss..... When,after a couple of hours waiting,I inquired about the waiting and was given the response,"If you don't want to wait,feel free to go to Saskatoon"The music from the radio was so loud,how can people even recover...... From now on I will take the time and go to Saskatoon.....

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It says it all when a doctor in this city said" If you care about your loved one...take them to Saskatoon..
I have had so many bad experiences with this hospital ER also.. and I am speaking as a caregiver in this city..What ever happened to all the changes to improve procedures.. Why bother waste $ then not follow through with recommendations..

The nurses inside think they are crap too. We need more ER. I miss Holy Family hospital and I had gone there before the Vic

I went in to the emergency room when I was 14 weeks pregnant. I had just gone through a colposcopy the Wednesday prior, I had had the normal post op symptoms which quickly faded. Friday afternoon I started bleeding again, so I went in to make sure that I wasn't losing my baby at 4:30pm. I told the nurse at the triage desk exactly what had happened and what was happening. I waited until 9:30pm when I went back to the triage desk and crying told the replacement desk what I was experiencing. Thankfully, she took me into emerg where I waited in a room until 12:30pm before I was seen. I understand that there is nothing that can be done if I had been losing my baby, but rather than putting myself and the baby through that stress for 8 hours, it could have been a quick in and out- I am very disappointed in the system. Happily everything was fine and I now have a healthy baby girl.

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There is tons of issues going on in the health care system, not all of it has to do with the staff. True the bedside manner of some nurses/doctors is not the greatest, but they deal with alot of BS, especially in this city!! People are seen by priority and just because it looks bad does not mean it is that bad. Sorry but those people with strokes and heart attacks are seen before those with injured limbs. Life over limb. And the system is so abused! People do not understand what the term Emergency Room means, it is not for every little bump and scrape, nor is an ambulance ride. It is assumed because they go to Emergency they will be seen right now and that all the stops will be pulled out to figure out whats going on, not the case and nor should it be that way. Even if your case is minor, why should you be put in and out right away just for reassurance and leave people with serious injuries waiting. Do you hear yourselves? Its sad. And yes some of the workers maybe out having a cigarette or taking a break, but guess what? Health care workers all deserve their breaks to, so what if they choose to smoke on that break? What type of care will be provided if everyone missed their breaks and then you have starving tired people who are barely functioning? I think people are much to quick to complain about things in the healthcare system when usually its the complainers who are causing the problems and making it so bad for everyone else!!!! To those who complain about the nurses being useless and not actually working for their money, nurse are very hard working people and I think they fully deserve every last penny they make. The times you see healthcare workers laughing and socializing are few and far between. Dont tell me others have never laughed, chatted and enjoyed being at work if only for a couple minutes. I think the emergency room could use some improvements yes, but they are far from incompetant and should be praised for doing what they do with what they have. To all of those who do nothing but complain, walk a mile in the healthcare workers shoes and then lets talk.

grr, u should be busy

grr, well said.we have become a society of whiners, one should have to have a real solution before they complain.

I was placed on a stretcher with blood stains from the previous patient on the sheets. The so called "nurse" flipped the sheet over, then proceeded to text message someone on her phone. The only truly helpful person there was the cleaning staff. The nurses are bar none the most non professional. They do not deserve the title. I asked to speak to the manager. I was told she was at the gym. A word to the wise. Travel to Saskatoon.

They do what they can with what they got. And that ain't much.

the few times that i have gone to the ER in PA we were brought in right away and seen by a doc within 15 mins!

@ guest. you were better off going to a walk in clinic. if need be they send you to emerg with drs orders.

people are abusing the ER then complain about it when they're waiting for 10+ hours, when they could of went to a walk in clinic!

let's see so far i have read people complain about hurting a leg,a girl who got beat up in a fight,someone complaining about how the staff is dressed,complaints of people drinking coffee and playing cards on a computer which would mean that patient was behind the desk with staff where they could see the monitor,a person who broke their foot,a person who was told by a doctor do not use the vic hospital because he was not trained right to be a doctor in prince albert,then we have a pretend caregiver who probably took the 15 hour course and now thinks they are a medical whiz,now the topper to all of this a person actually complained because staff may be out on a break having a smoke.
this is a joke these people are complaining for nothing i can say i think these people are jealous of people who work in the health care field maybe a few of these so called care experts should get into school and take the course the nurses take or maybe even become a doctor and show the staff here how it should be done.now complainers either put up or quit your crying and give some respect to the people who have saved more lives than anyone of you people on here complaining.YOU HAVE JUST BEEN TOLD THE TRUTH

..I agree with the response given regarding Holy Family Hospital.it seems to me the Holy Family was always the better run hospital of the city and never was there a column of negative comments in the paper as is with the Victoria Hospital.Could it be that negativity was quietly investigated or did they just have better people in the lead.....

See my opinion is there are not enough doctors on at the hospital to actually see the patients quickly enough, and some of the doctors suck. I believe the workers and nurses are doing the best they can. I think there are way too many people going that dont need to go to emerg that would be just fine going to a walk in. I think most of the people that go to the hospital are there with minor injuries claiming they are worse than they are just so they can get some pills. The walk ins have line ups too but they are alot less than 5 hours. I also have a complaint about a certain doctor, I have seen him about 3 times at a walk in clinic. I recently took my son to that clinic instead of going to the hospital and my son was slashed open from a fall and this doctor put a bandaid on it and sent us home. He has no concern for his patients nor the time to actually look at them or talk to them to get the whole story. ITs all about seeing as many patients he can get paid for.

As an ER nurse in another health care facilty I am disgusted with the comments on here. First of all, If there is something wrong with your health care facilty and you feel as though you haven't been treated appropriately, you need to submit a complaint. If the NUM isn't in, and is at the 'gym', ( would it have been better if she were at McDonalds?) you can certainly talk to the nursing supervisor, or call/come back. Be sure to include the date, time and what happened, who was involved, get the name of the nurses, ect.
Secondly, many people treat the ER as a walk in clinic. It is not a walk in clinic, people with serious problems are seen and it takes TIME to sort these people out, not everyone is 'in and out' and if you feel that your problem is simple and in and out, perhaps you can use your common sence that I certainly hope you have and wait to see your family physician or walk in clinc. I do realize that when things happen in the middle of the night, there are no other options, and i hope that the nurses in PA realize that as well.
Thirdly, ER nursing is draining. We work under staffed with seriously ill pt's all the time. recruitment and retention is very hard. I myself have 10 years of nursing experiance and work with nurses whom have just graduated. I would love to have more experiance where I work, but unfortunately not many experianced nurses want to stay in the ER, due to fatigue. We work hard, long hours and rarely get appropriate breaks.
lastly, I call on all of you to take the time to think about the real reason behind the wait times, and lack of nurses approaching your room when you are in the dept? Think about what else is going on in the dept!
As for the comments about the nurses putting on their lip gloss, wearing white pants with a 'thong' hanging out..get a grip.. are these the things that are bothering you the most? You can leave out your ignorance out!

They also seem more concerned with people smoking on the property than helping those that need it. The commisionares seem to want to flex muscle that they don't have

If the nurses and doctors in the emergency dept wasted their time on every sore throat and sore knee, who would look after the people who should really be there????? The heart attack patients, the stroke victims, the car accidents. Until you have really needed serious medical attention, do not complain because i assure you that these nurses are top notch and trained to SAVE LIVES. They save lives everyday, with little recognition and nothing but negativity from the citizens of this city full of complainers. And until you really need their services, you will not understand. And so what if they visit, apply lipgloss, or go for smokes on their breaks? I'm sure that is common for people to do in a workplace.

If you guys really want this fixed, complain to your MLA or MP, don't passive-aggressively whine on a web site that in the end will do ABSOLUTLY nothing to fix this problem.

I personally know "nurses" that work there. Sure they have their training and blah blah blah, but the comments they make about the things that go on there, are completely innappropriate. They come in hung over from the night before, and hook themselves up to IV's to make it through the day. I was told by one, that if you are rude to them in any way, that they "lose" your file for a "little while" just to teach you a lesson. I never, ever go to this hospital, would rather travel to Saskatoon or Edmonton. I am sure that there are very hard working nurses but these "bad seeds" make the whole place stink.

I agree with the rural nurse. The hospital is not a walk In clinic.

The hospital in this city is a joke.

God bless the Holy Family Hospital.

I think that the bashing of the nurses at the Victoria Hospital Emergency Department has gone far enough. The last posting tells me this writer has watched too many episodes of "Greys Anatomy" and has this confused with the Nursing profession. I am really baffled as to where you got this information from and no nurse in their right mind would do this and even admit to such a stupid comment. You have the right to voice your opinion but voice the proper information.

I always wondered why prince albert had 2 hospitals years and years ago, and now that Prince Albert has doubled in size we only have 1. Dont get it why we cant have another hospital facility.

I've been at the ER plenty. Both as worker and as a patient.
If you are hurt, you will get seen in an appropriate time frame. MINIOR injuries take up tons of the nurses, docs, lab, x-ray peoples time. If you have a minor injury got to minor emerg. I will bet that even though the minor injuries had to wait, they were treated with the utmost care.
If you dont like this, please, drive to Saskatoon, Edmonton, I am sure you'll be seen right away, LMAO. They have the same problems with wait times as we do. And If you injury is serious, what would you do by yourself on the highway? Hmmm, seems better to wait at the hospital, right?
Or lets try this: I think we should have Private ER's. That's a great option. It would weed out the minor injuries that a little rest, ice, advil would take care of anyways!!!

So why is it you can sit there for 4 hours, then a convict comes in with scratches and takes priority over everyone else. Or you leave someone there for 6 hours til they bare so fed up they leave. Only to return the next morning to find out they have a life threatning infection, and staight to surgery. Well done people well done

We have always been told the customer is always right, well if you are seeing so many complaints then I have to beleive the problem begins with the hospital and its representitives and policies

How busy was the emergency room that night? Truth of the matter is, if you aren't serious, they aren't going to put you as a priority. There is so much that goes on in the ER, and there is limited staff... you would have been better to wait and go to the walk in clinic the next morning. I know people who work in and with the ER and they are wonderful and capable people. The average person wouldn't put up with half of what they do. The emergency room is just that- for emergencies. If it's not life threatening be prepared to wait.

Last time I was in the waiting room, I only waited for 2 hours. Yes I saw a criminal come in with guards and I was glad he went in right away cause I didnt want to sit beside him in the chairs. I was happier sitting beside the guy who had just crapped in his pants.

I am fed up with people through their own choice of lifestyle, drugs, alcohol and crime continue to think they can walk into an ER and be treatred like a five star hotel. Its no doubt that sometimes the staff is swamped and they can get a little short as we all tend to do but when you are dealing with the same people over and over you would too. Funny you rarely see hard working people in the ER.

until you've been to another hospital, don't complain about the Vic!
Where I'm from there is NO minor emerg clinics, The only way for you to be seen by a doctor is to either wait for 3+months for an appointment to see your family Doctor, or go to emerg. I've waited in the ER dept there for 12++ hours with an appendix that was inflamed because there was no where else to go!
I think the VIC does a great job. One physician in particular though should have his licence removed. but thats just me

I went to the hospital once cuse I was so sick. the workers were busy i felt so bad for all the sick people their. the nurse was so kind she gave me a meat sandwich and a juice. she even oferred me a blanket. I gave the guy beside me my meat San wich and he was happy. I keep the juice cause it was cold and real good. the man said i look like I had fever and so i staid and waited. The workers were very nice

I agree! I have worked at the hospital and the ER nurses are more concerned with their appearance than anythng else. The strut around like they own the place. Why was the Holy Family hospital closed? The Vic hospital services PA along with alot of towns surrounding us and the northern communities. It's just another reason why Prince Albert is getting worse as opposed to better

why dont thay reopen the holy family hosptal? im not from here ?

Even if they had another hospital in PA (like the Holy), who would work there? Sask is short docs and nurses and X-ray people etc.
Find your MLA's and MP's web site and swamp it with e-mails to add more seats to our RN program and re-open the diploma to degree program and employ more LPNs, doctors, techs and RNs, get us an MRI in PA.
Talk about a 2 tier system, look at all the money PA people had to put into this hospital to make it better place and that's only a drop in the bucket. Don't you think taking private money from private people and private companies is privatization? I do!

the holy family hospital was torn down...it was a nice hospital in its time.

This web page is a joke! A place for people with zero education on health care to vent. If you have a medical problem, such as a sore throat for 2 months,,perhaps you should find a family dr to treat you. And just so you know,,, don't expect of full night sleep in an ER,, this isn't a bed and breakfast, as stated above, it is an emergency room.
I have read many stupid comments on this web page.. why don't you people who want to complain take a min to complain to someone who maybe..but prob not,., will care about and potentionally do something in the long run about them?!! ie: your mla.. and not waste your time on this site? I am just giving you an educated opinion!!!!!!!!!!

I' ve worked as an LPN in the Emergency Department for quite a few years now. I am proud to say I have worked beside incredible hard working nurses and doctors throughout these years. We are not perfect, but we do the best we can for our patients. I am proud to work there and will always continue to be so. Let's put this animosity aside and work together towards finding ways to improve upon the system we are currently working with.

Julie,

I apprecate the fact that some people do actually perform work at the hospital. However the fact remains that there is no actual work being conducted late at night as the Nurses sip on their double doubles and look at pictures of dogs on Google images. I am disgusted with the lack of respect that these nurses give people. Maybe nurses working at the Victoria Hospital need a refresher course on beside manners and how to treat the patients because if it werent for us patients you nurses would be unemployed.

The night in question that I was at the hospital the emergency room was practically empty. 2 beds being used and the rest of the ward empty. The volume in which these "STAFF" spoke was increadible. For being so late at night you would think that they would also be respectufl that there are sick people sleeping. Maybe its time for Hospital Management to crawl out of their lazy-boy recliners and start actually working the units at night.

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In reading all these articles,and I usually do not allow myself to respond to such incredible nonsense written by people who tend to be medically illiterate,I am a retired nurse and have worked for 40 years in an Emergency Dept,and have never had the priviledge of reading such garbage where the nurses and doctors have been so slandered.With the good and the bad I have witnessed throughout my many years,the good has always outweighed the bad.I do agree that people have a right to the best medical attention and I do believe in freedom of speech and freedom of the press,but I do not believe this cruelty to hard working and intelligent human beings who sacrifice their lives to help those within and surrounding communities is warranted by such an ungrateful public.

Also for those people who keep insisting that I should have gone to a walk-in clinic, the reason I went to the hosptial in the first place was that I had dislocated my knee which I have been scheduled for surgery for.

I am not a criminal, nor a drug user not am I a part of the population who abuses the hospital. I was a patient needing medical attention which I had not received.

A walk in clinc would have only sent me to the hospital to see a doctor and in order to get xrays.

I think that the nurses need to settle down instead of getting angry and posting rude comments. Was it you ladies that were working that ngiht?.

Come on!

This issue has been generating a lot of dialogue, both good and bad, between users. However, nobody has proposed any constructive solutions about approaching the issue. Personal attacks won't help us solve anything and we should work together instead of working against each other. How can we resolve this issue?

Mr PAGuy...Are you the same guy that hobbled out to your vehicle after not being seen.... I'm no expert at this but how could you walk and or hobble if you had a dislocated knee? That's like cackling the kettle black!!!

PA guy is obviously a real tough dude. Imagine hobbling along with a dislocated knee! LMAO

I cannot complain about the hospital here at all......yes it is in bad shape ...yes the wait times are crazy...but i have seen many people who show up in emerg with non life threating injuries...ie a cold or flu ....i wish people could work a shift as a nurse and see what it is like.......it is a tough job.....emotionally and physically draining......i have worked in this field for 5 years and it is hectic and at most times chaotic.......i live in saskatoon now and recently my son needed stiches ...i went to minor emerg and they did a great job......i had a baby in june and the drs and nurses were awesome......yes sometimes you get a miserable nurse or dr......but remember alot of the drug addicted alcoholic bums are repeat customers and it does get annoying......you have to serve what you are given......please people respect nurses cuz they deal with alot of crap day to day........and at the end of the day these are the people you will need most at some point in time....

Boomer,

I must ask... how exactly do they "sacrifice their lives"??.

you dont hear that comment about other occupations. Maybe if that is how the nurses are feeling it is time to look for a new career.

Exactly PA Guy that's why your stuck with who you got, all the other nurses have moved on, burnt out or left the profession because it's the toughest job you could ever imagine!

Mr PA Guy... Obviously,you take contact with contagious diseases not a serious matter.... Let me remind you of needle pokes caused by dirty paraphenalia falling out of these so called drug infested cases.... There are many ways a nurse and doctor can receive a needle poke injury... Are you aware there is no cure for HIV and HEP C.... I would call that "sacrificing their lives"

You rock Boomer!!!

mdalton89 mentioned that we should be responding with solutions....so, here ya go.

Possible solution:

- Keep a minor emergency unit open at the hospital 24 / 7 (or at least cover the hours that the other minor emergency clinics are not open.)

- During the hours that the minor emergency clinics are open, send the non-life threatening injuries to these clinics.

This would allow the emergency room to function as intended (or at least better than people are posting about.)

I am aware that this will cost money or possible legal issues, but what price do you put on your lives?

stop blaming the people tryng to do thier jobs.......we work with what is given.......the govenment is to blame. i know so many great nurses who are graduating but cannot get jobs in this city...no experiance means no job.....bull! how can we gain experiance if we cannot get jobs after school??? yes lets put all our resources in to educated 10 year plus nurses who will retire shortly......the great demand of nurses and doctors is up but yet it takes a miracle to land a job in this profession......wtf?

What makes a great nurse is not just what you know, it`s experience too. I agree that we need more nurses, I`ve already posted on getting more jobs, more nursing schools etc. But the comment just made by ``havesomerespect`` about the `10 year plus nurses`` is redundant. you can`t get a job where there is no positions available and frankly if my life depended on it I would want someone who was working for ``10 years plus``, not a rookie. Don`t start throwing your mentors under the bus until you learn how to drive.

I would just like to say, although I do agree we need to work on the patient care in our Vic ER, like many others here I've had several very bad experiences at the ER. I don't think this forum will change anything.

On another note...my nick is PAGUY (all caps).... I do not wish to be associated with the PAguy who created this thread! ;o)

PAGuy

you say these people were on a computer looking at dogs not sure how you would be able to see this from a room and since your knee was dislocated i am sure you were not able to walk or stand to see this really happening.you also mention that they were drinking coffee well why should they not be allowed to have a coffee i know most other jobs allow you to have a coffee so why are the medical people different and just so you know the nurses have to get orders from the doctors.you also mention bedside manner well if you only knew of how these people are treated when they try to help you would know that they are spit at and called all different types of names but yet they still help those people just because they did not kiss your you know what you are mad.you also mention without the patients they would not have a job,well without these medical people you would get no care and probaly would be laid up or maybe even dead.

I have also been a victim of the long waits in the e.r, and I have a few things to say. First of all P.a needs an all night minor emergency. This would most likely cut wait times in half,and save the e.r for real emergencies. Second we need to crack down on the abusers. Enough is enough. If a person is coming in looking for a meal, or place to sleep, send them to the tank, or maybe have a shelter built to help with this issue. Another cause of wait times is when one person goes through, they take up a bed and the doctors time until the test results are back....what would be wrong with taking one patient, and when they are waiting for their results start looking after another...why does one need to be finished first. As for the nurses and staff, they usually do have time to stand around, but they are usually waiting for the doctors...but i do agree that they should try and make you comfortable. Maybe a little bedside manner would be appreciated. And as for the nurses saying they are sick of the abusers. You chose this job, every case is different and just because you are sick of the abusers does not mean that you can treat the non abusers different.

My mother is an ER nurse and works her tail off as do the others there. most nights she comes home exausted only to get a call a few hours later to see if she can fill in for someone who called in sick. so tell me how many other professions do you know that require this kind of comitment. if you really want to make a chage then call your MP and let them know. these people are working harder than most.

I have been to the hospital alot over the years.I find the Doctors and nurses to be very cold unhappy like they really don't want to be there.And if you don't want to be there the get a different job.And let real Doctors and nurses come in. And just maybe they should get fired like everyone else who don't do their jobs well.I think P.A. is one of the worst hospital around and no one seems to want to fix this.

At least build walls around the waiting area, so those people sitting for hours in the hallway with puke pails in their laps can have some dignity. That's a big problem. There is no privacy. I have never been in a hospital where the general public has to walk past those waiting for emerg. It is so wrong.

They do have a tough job for sure but I think they know that going in. PA is the worst hospital for rudeness saskatoon city hospital is busy too and the attitudes were alot friendler and compassionate. I guess that PA

I just wanted to ask the other PAGuy, when he was being neglected in the ER did the nurses at the desk seem like older nurses who have been nursing for a while or young ones. I'm asking because it seems to me that the hospital has always been busy but the old nurses that everyone seems to run down were always working really hard and being really professional.
In general I've noticed in almost every profession that the new generation just doesn't want to work. That may be ok at the car wash, but it's not ok in a hospital.

there was positions availible when my class graduated .....17 nurses needed jobs but none got one so this crying we are short staffed is bull.......most of my classmates never got jobs in thier home province.....they went to alberta,,,,,but yet we scream short staff.....wtf???? i have no sympathy cuz every year we are turning out health care professionals that cant get jobs......if you have no family in said occupation then you are screwed cuz we all know it is the people with connections that get the jobs.....i know i have applied several times and was rejected even with solid referasnces.....im not good enough to contribute to these situations.......even though i have a good work ethic and am reliable......when i was in my final year 22 of us applied for jobs that were posted.....one got a job cuz her aunt was a head nurse........what about the rest of us? we all took jobs elesewhere cuz we were not good enough to serve our province....damn shame

Goodnight everyone.

@jbstallock there are jobs ....if we can afford to have 20 phillipino nurses come to sask to work we can hire our people as well.....you may think you know all but for all the healthcare professionals we educate we should be set.......when i was in my last year there was a newspaper artical about how short staffed we were......yet that year we had over 100 nurses graduate.......65% got jobs eles where. due to lack of jobs here??? stop crying about short staffed cuz we in school know there are lots of educated people wanting work...we just cannot get hired!

Does anyone know what kind of Minor Emerg the new vic square will house? will it be an "after hours" or just another one thats only open until 10?
one? I gave up my position as RN when I had my children. and the last 4 graduating classes have NOT found jobs in PA? why? its because theres NO JOBS! or so they say. they hired the 200+ filipino nurses (which is fine by me) I have nothing bad to say about the filipino nurses. they know their stuff. In my opinion more so than SOME of the Canadian nurses. There is alot of people that are abusing the ER in PA. and Its not the nurses or doctors faults. theres only so many beds, and if 3/4 of them are full of drunks, who benefits from this? thats why they built the new detox center, send them down there! theres also other places in PA that one can to go to in order to have x-rays during the day, why go to the hospital when you can go to a walk-in then go on over to Associate radioligists?

Two years ago my appendix decided it didn't like me no more. I went and was immediately put in the ER and left on a bed in the worst pain i have ever had in my life which i can only relate to as a beach ball in my gut about to pop. I was sweating and intensely ill. I couldn't stand up straight due to the pain so when i had to puke i had to roll off my bed and crawl on my knees around the corner to the washroom. The whole time there was seven nurses standing around the desk drinking coffee watching me in almost disgust as if i was just another misserable drunk. I was so embarresed crawling around on the floor with my bare @#$% hanging out of my gorney. I started to get the shakes under my bedsheet and i had the nerve to ask my wife to go ask the nurses for another blanket. She went and asked the seven nurses and they pointed her in the direction down the hallway. Finally after a couple of hours of wondering if i was gonna die a doctor showed up and actually tells a couple of nurses that im in some serious condition here and rushed me to surgery. So in the future when i believe that i need serious medical attention. Im going to Saskatoon. I would rather die on the way to a respectable hostpital than go through anything like that ever again.

As mentioned in my previous post, I think we should be brainstorming constructive solutions to this issue. Sure, people can complain about it all they want, but we need to work collectively to get this issue resolved. I want to thank Tim for responding with some possible solutions. What does everyone think about some of his suggested proposals? I have reposted his suggestions below:
- Keep a minor emergency unit open at the hospital 24 / 7 (or at least cover the hours that the other minor emergency clinics are not open.)
- During the hours that the minor emergency clinics are open, send the non-life threatening injuries to these clinics.
This would allow the emergency room to function as intended (or at least better than people are posting about.)
I am aware that this will cost money or possible legal issues, but what price do you put on your lives?

That is sad. You probably could have gone to Saskatoon and got checked any perscription and came home all in that time!!!!!

There are NO jobs. Until the government realizes that it is costing them twice as much in overtime, and start allowing the health region to create more jobs.. there will cont to be no jobs. Just because you have graduated and can't find a job DOESN"t mean that we are not short staffed!! We are short staffed, and everyday my phone rings for overtime,.,, To me.. it makes much more sence to hire more staff and than decrease on the over time and fatigue of my co-workers.. but until you people on here who act as though you are advocating for better health care, get your @#$% together and start putting your energy into the government.. nothing is going to change!!

And as for JBSTALLOCKS comment about the new nurses... be careful!! The new nurses are highly skilled and educated, I work with many experianced nurses who are the same way!! In any profession you will have staff that work very hard and ones that laze away-no matter the age- You are right about it being a new a generation.. and perhaps your should educate yourself about the next generation of people so you become familliar with the values they portray. Just because they don't 'live' for work & ask how high when someone of authority tells them to 'jump' doesn't mean that they are incompetant in the health field & are lazy!!!

And as for the guy who is trying to come up with solutions.. way to go!! I am so happy to see someone with brains on this site who actually gets it.. people want to compare whos sitution was worse... how about pouring some of your energy into something useful,. help to solve the problem instead of contributing... and than you can take pride and feel confidant in bringing your loved ones to the ER!!

and you wonder why you cant find a job!

Right on, PAGuy. I was 100% on the nurses side until that one started spewing off bleeps! Now I don't know, my faith in mankind is going down with the bedbath water.

I accidently blew some small woods shavings into my eye, went to a WALK IN (shoppers at corner stone) first as it wasn't an emergency, doc didn't even look IN my eye, gave me some OLD EXPIRED antiseptic eye drops (which i still have!!) and said i would be fine...few hours later with my eye growing in intense pain, i went to another WALK IN (SOUTH HILL by Mohawk), they said they couldn't help me only the original doc could or I had to go to the ER. Sadly I went to the ER thinking I was going to wait for hours, but amazing I got in after only 90 mins wait, and they flushed my eye which helped 100% and gave me a tetnis shot (hate needles) and laughed at me for my story that i had, as to why i has itty bitty wood chips in my eye. it was great!

I had a good experience at the ER this one time, i've broughten in friends who were bleeding only to wait for hours and hours only to go home and used tons of bandages to help stop the bleeding, and went to a walk in the next day.

I don't care how many Health Care professionals we put out as a province, unless they are top of their class I seriously don't want them helping me, or my family or friends. I know the ladies who helped me had good marks, just by their attitude, they didn't have to worry about making a mistake or to cover their @#$% as they knew what they were doing, had the attitude and the right stuff to make it as a health care provider. and it showed with their mannerisms!

We need to fix the whole health care system, patients come first, we need a MINOR emergency open 24 hours, for those of us who know we just need a quick stitch or whatever, and leave the real EMERGENCY room for the paramedics and people who just had a heart attack or stroke or something SERIOUS. and the walk ins should be able to be seen by ANOTHER doc if the first one wasn't able to help properly to begin with!!

and just my two cents, if your drunk and broughten into the ER cause your sick, you should have to PAY for your visit!!! I shouldn't have to pay for people being stupid and using up valuable resources because they have given up on themselves, I already pay for those detox centres, and other gov programs to get them CLEAN.

Health Care Administrators (or whomever is in charge of this) pay attention!
-- WE have problems with service that YOU need to address...

(below are 2 examples from user Darkitty and suggested possible fixes by me )
==================================================================
"they said they couldn't help me only the original doc could or I had to go to the ER."
This is a clear example why the ER gets overrun.

--WE NEED there to be more cooperation between health care facilities, whether it be the hospital, private practice, or minor emergency units around the city / province.
==================================================================
"and just my two cents, if your drunk and broughten into the ER cause your sick, you should have to PAY for your visit!!! "

-- have some sort of filtering system added / revised that helps take care of these abusive people. (btw...I agree with the abusive people having to pay for their visits.)

-- Put forward a proposal to the government: If they come in more than 3 times (for example) in a fixed amount of time while inebriated / high/etc...they should be REQUIRED to be placed in a treatment facility.
( To clarify: This is an example only...I am aware that drunks are not the only ones causing the problem.)
==================================================================

Well if the ER wouldn't be as slow if there wasn't Intoxicated people coming into the ER looking for attention for no reason expect for a place to sleep.

People must realize, that, the ER is not like a restaurant, as you come in you get served. the more urgent get attention, first.
Also alcoholism, is a disease, and does produce extra work.
As I was in ER waiting to see the Ortho Specalist, for my son's broken hand. I had the time to watch, the coming and going of patients. A friend with her daughter, lower abdominal pain, another friend with his mother, pain from bladder/kidney infection, and a long time drug user.
Guess who got in first??
Drug user in for IV, mother still in pain sweating, left in waiting room, and daughter was told to go home without seeing any doctor.
Do we need more education in the Triage nursing?

There is no such word as broughten

I can understand that a lot of people are frustrated with the ER’s wait times in Prince Albert. It’s disappointing that the common analysis points towards incompetent staff. The issues surrounding wait times in the ER do not stem from staff competency. When you come to the ER you are triaged according to CTAS (Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale)…not according to the nurse’s personal preference. For example, an IV drug user may be seen before your daughter with a fracture because the drug user is at risk for serious infections (immunocompromise, heart valve complications etc) which have a higher mortality rate than a closed fracture of an otherwise healthy individual. Drunk people are especially susceptible to falls and brain bleeds…they need to be monitored closely. They do not judge based on lifestyle, to do so would be a moral outrage.
Also, staff appearing to sit around may be simply because they are waiting for important reports on patients in the department and there are NO other beds to physically put people in (and if you see one it may be a “contingency bed” in case a true emergency arrives at any moment.
While the staff understands YOU feel your minor injury is a true emergency, they understand true emergencies from a medical standpoint. Their “thick skin” is possibly what enables them to remain in that job to serve the public without burnout. It doesn’t seem the original poster was in a position to evaluate the skills of the staff to claim “horrible skill sets”.
I don’t think premiums for non emergent issues are the answer, as people may stay away for fear of a bill when they NEED to be seen emergently. Perhaps a “streaming area” where less urgent cases may be fast tracked…but you need physical space, additional staff, resources to do this! Prince Albert ER services a greater population than only the city.
Insinuating a poor bedside manner or attitude from a nurse reflects on THAT person, not the discipline of nursing as a whole.
People must utilize the minor emergency clinics! That is why they are there…they get seen sooner, not because the staff are better, more competent…but because they are not dealing with seriously ill patients. The problem is that resources are not being utilized by the public appropriately, and this may partially be a failure to educate the public.
I would like to see less complaining and more viable suggestions for improvement. This is difficult when the public generally has a poor understanding of the underlying issues involved.
Public education needs to be made a priority.
Incidentally, I have health care training, but I do not work in that hospital.

To hlthcrpro: Thank you for finally acknowledging the truth and the realities of this issue, well stated and hopefully understood by all who have all these concerns. The bottom line is there are frustrations from consumer and service provider alike, but understanding that you all do the best you can with what you have is of upmost importance. I particularily appreciated your comment about not labelling the whole nursing profession....nurses are the heart and soul of the organization and advocate in ways that many do not realize. So thank you for this response as I think it will put an end to all negative anonymous slings and arrows being thrown here.

To healthcarepro, Good information, what about a solution??
the IV drug user was smiling and appeared comfortable, Yet others appearing in pain were left to sit and wait, also pleasenote that I was not complaining about waiting for a hand fracture, but more for the people waiting, that, needed to be seen. Also note I too worked in the hospital, and have lots of training, not any more. So why, with training, are you no longer working there??

For all you people who think that driving to Saskatoon to go to the ER is going to be any better....guess again. I have worked in both cities and I can guarantee that if you are well enough to drive yourself to another city then you will most definitely be sitting in the waiting room. ER stands for EMERGENCY room! Please utilize walk in clinic if your condition isn't emergent. If you do go to the ER and have to wait DO NOT get angry if you see nurses "standing around". What do you expect them to be doing when the beds are full and they are waiting for test results, etc. Don't assume you know what is going on! Have some respect!

To Nurse, why does your employer let this Happen???And now Wakaw hospital is closed because, well, Management issues?? [ The staff including Doctors live in this town, but choose not to work there ??] Now all these people will be in the lineups at ER, both in PA and Saskatoon. Also notice the posters on the walls of PA hospital, that take mention of staff miss using sick days causing overtime, and staff shortages, etc. RN's make app.45 an hour, while LPN's make 33 an hour, with spine less unions, and no increase in wages, in the next couple of years. Older staff retiring, and few replacements, or jobs posted for them?? Soon all patients will be told to stay away, so the ER can have coffee breaks, and lunch on time.

The nurses that were "neglecting" patients were the young ones. The one older nurse they had their was doing her best to keep up. Even as I was leaving the Triage nurse appologized to me. I said to her what is going on here and she just looked at me and said " I dont know anymore".

Sounds like management needs to do some overhauling of the Emerg Dept to me.

I find the amount of people who personally attack others on this website to be disgusting, I thought we were here to fix things not to attack one another.

I will decide when this issue is closed.

closed