Hemodialysis unit nurses flag acute understaffing

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This article was published 09/01/2025 (252 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nursing staff employed at the Brandon Regional Health Centre’s (BRHC’s) Renal Hemodialysis Unit are raising the alarm to flag acute understaffing and a glaring lack of mental health resources.

A licensed practical nurse, who has worked for Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) for 15 years, said calls to the management regarding these issues have been ignored, leading to mounting frustration among the current nursing ranks.

“There’s absolutely zero support from management for the front lines, and we have been losing staff like crazy because management does not support us in anything that we want to bring forward,” said the nurse, who spoke to the Sun on the condition of anonymity.

“We want more staff because it is a definite safety risk for our patients. If they don’t have access to dialysis because of a nursing shortage, they’re driving two hours to Winnipeg on winter roads.”

“We are very scared because management has proven time and time again that speaking out is not in the nurses’ best interest,” she added.

One of the out-patients currently undergoing treatment at the dialysis unit also echoed these concerns, and reached out to the Sun to share her personal experience.

Caroline Fisher is a retired Brandon police officer who has been undergoing dialysis for seven years, and hemodialysis at BRHC since September 2023. She said she feels the need to “shine a light on the nursing shortages,” that she sees first-hand.

Fisher has also written letters to Treena Slate, PMH’s CEO, as well as the provincial government advocating for more staff. While Fisher said she has spoken with Slate, she has not received a reply from Premier Wab Kinew or Uzoma Asagwara, the province’s minister of health, seniors and long-term care, so far.

There are 35 full-time equivalent nursing positions in the dialysis unit, but there are 10 vacancies, the nurse said. She added that four nurses are scheduled to leave on account of retirement, maternity leave and having found employment elsewhere. And another four are off work indefinitely, the nurse said, “for other medical reasons.”

In an email sent to the Sun, PMH’s Slate confirmed that the vacancy rate at the dialysis unit is 28 per cent.

“Three nurses have started their renal unit training with anticipated completion at the end of February,” she said. “Additional nurses will be taking training either in Winnipeg or Brandon in one of the upcoming spring classes.”

The educator, who is training the three nurses in the province’s nine-week Manitoba Nephrology Nursing Course, is the first trainer that Brandon has had in two years, the renal unit nurse told the Sun.

And while having new nurses trained is welcome, she added, there’s still a long way to go when it comes to caring for the dialysis patients who come to the unit as out-patients, or those who are admitted to one of the regular hospital wards, in the intensive care unit, or the emergency department.

The nurse-to-patient ratio, she said, should be one to one for new patients starting dialysis, “but that hardly happens anymore.”

“When someone is on dialysis treatment, they’re hooked up to a machine that circulates their blood outside of their system. So, they have about 400 millilitres outside of their body at any given time.

“You need to watch these people very carefully and check their vital signs every five to 15 minutes … Their blood pressure tends to fluctuate quite rapidly, and they can pass out. It could take up to three nurses to stabilize them,” the nurse said.

Fisher’s undergoes dialysis at BRHC thrice a week, for four hours at a time. Most of her appointments are in the evening, but during the past six months, that has changed.

“I have been called to come in the afternoon due to staffing shortages in the evening. This may happen a couple of times a month,” Fisher told the Sun on Wednesday afternoon as she was undergoing treatment.

She recounted how one Sunday morning patients were asked not to come in because there weren’t any nurses available.

Since Fisher is retired, changing her appointment hasn’t been a problem, but she said she can recognize the signs of stress on the nurses, who “have been wonderful, and maintain a professional demeanour even when they are under stress from their workload.

“One evening all four nurses had been mandated to work overtime after working short-staffed during the day. That meant they were working for 16 hours. You could see the fatigue on their faces,” Fisher said.

Chronic staff shortages and stress have pushed the people too far, said Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union.

One of the issues the dialysis unit nurses took to their union was about an incomplete Christmas schedule from management that the nurses had to fill in themselves.

Another complaint was of not being supported or heard, and feeling devalued.

“Chronic staff shortages, ongoing stress and loss has pushed the people who keep this program going, too far,” Jackson said, adding, “We are deeply concerned about the impact this has on patient care and the well-being of our team.”

“Our priority is to ensure the safety and support of both our staff and patients, and we urge management to address these urgent concerns immediately,” Jackson wrote in an email to the Sun.

Staff are encouraged to speak to their manager or supervisor about mental health and well-being at any time, said Slate. Staff members can also access support through the Employee Assistance Plan (EAP), and additional resources, including the health region’s employee wellness committee, she said.

“Leadership is listening and working collaboratively with the Brandon Regional Health Centre dialysis team to improve workplace culture and staff well-being, as well as accessing other provincial resource supports while it continues to fill vacant positions within the dialysis unit,” Slate said.

The dialysis unit has about 110 patients who are actively on hemodialysis, the nurse said, and over time, they develop relationships.

“So, you want to do what’s best. You’re in this job because you want to help people. But we have been bleeding staff, because we are not supported,” she said.

“Imagine being willing to listen to your staff, taking their concerns seriously and working as a team to try and come up with the best solutions going forward.”

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

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