{"id":9225,"date":"2020-02-06T11:48:53","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T16:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=9225"},"modified":"2020-04-19T15:33:15","modified_gmt":"2020-04-19T19:33:15","slug":"extreme-psw-shortage-burning-out-ontario-long-term-care-workers-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/extreme-psw-shortage-burning-out-ontario-long-term-care-workers-study\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Extreme’ PSW shortage burning out Ontario long-term care workers: Study"},"content":{"rendered":"

(February 5, 2020)<\/p>\n

By:\u00a0Ellwood Shreve<\/span>, Chatham Daily News<\/p>\n

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Personal support workers caring for some 80,000 long-term care home residents in Ontario feel anger, frustration and burnout as they struggle to meet expectations while routinely working in understaffed facilities, a new report says.<\/p>\n

According to Caring in Crisis: Ontario\u2019s Long-Term Care PSW Shortage, commissioned for the Ontario Health Coalition by Unifor, the situation has become an epidemic.<\/p>\n

The report \u2013 announced Wednesday at media events in Chatham and London \u2013 is based on accounts from the more than 350 people, including PSWs, nurses, family members, union members and long-term care home managers who took part in meetings held provincewide since May 2018.<\/p>\n

The first \u201ceye-opening\u201d meeting, along with stories of \u201ccrisis-level PSW shortages\u201d at facilities in Southwestern Ontario, prompted the health coalition and Unifor to document the problems and propose solutions. Seven more roundtable meetings were held, beginning in London last February, with stops in Chatham, Windsor, Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Hamilton.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was total consensus that PSW shortages across Ontario in long-term care are epidemic and severe,\u201d the report states. \u201cLong-term care homes are short-staffed every day; in fact, virtually every shift, and in every area of Ontario.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andy Savela, director of health care for Unifor\u2019s national office who has worked in nursing for 30 years, said the province needs to provide more funding that\u2019s directly tied to hands-on care to create an acceptable resident-to-staff ratio.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a stigma attached to working in long-term care, resulting in people avoiding the field, he said during the Chatham event.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if the funding is adjusted, it\u2019s going to take time to change the mindset about what\u2019s going on in our long-term care facilities because, frankly, there\u2019s a lot of suffering happening,\u201d he said. \u201cOur elderly are suffering.Staff are suffering. Everybody\u2019s suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cathy Baker, a PSW at the Chatham-Kent-owned Riverview Gardens,\u00a0said there was a time when PSWs could do the job and still be able to talk with residents.<\/p>\n

That changed when the Ministry of Health implemented \u201cpoint-click care,\u201d a time-consuming electronic process that records care given to a resident, she said.<\/p>\n

Baker said the number of staff has declined at Riverview Gardens, which is taking a physical toll on the short-staffed workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s detrimental to all the humans involved in the long-term care \u2013 the residents and the workers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Both of Patsy Dykeman\u2019s\u00a0 parents lived at Riverview Gardens before they passed away.\u00a0 She found PSWs didn\u2019t have enough time to spend helping feed her father, who had trouble swallowing after recovering from a stroke, so family members stepped in. When she was still working, Dykeman said she would often arrive at the home to find her mother sitting in soaking wet pants.<\/p>\n

Staff shortages were so severe she would often walk the halls hearing residents calling for help from their rooms, Dykeman said. She would often break the rules and help residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was unreal. I couldn\u2019t believe all the things that I saw,\u201d Dykeman said. \u201cI saw more and more, which made me feel I needed to be there more and more.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report notes PSWs who shared their stories gave vivid descriptions of their difficult work conditions and the quality of care and life for residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many cases, workers are angry and upset,\u201d the report states. \u201cThis mostly female, often racialized workforce feels that they themselves are being abused and neglected.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report states this is due, in part, to negative media coverage about long-term care that doesn\u2019t reflect the care, generosity and compassion given to residents every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, they are frightened of the levels of aggressive behaviours and violence that they face,\u201d the report adds. \u201cThey feel they are being held accountable for a level of care that is impossible to provide with the resources that they have been given.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accounts from managers supported the reports of inadequate staffing, the impact of negative media, the extreme level of PSW shortages, and the pressure of meeting high expectations of care without enough staff, the report states.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a local problem. The situation that was described to us is pressing and it requires urgent systemic action by policy makers,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n

Shirley Roebuck, chair of the Chatham-Kent and Sarnia chapters of the Ontario Health Coalition, said the group has been advocating to improve care levels in long-term care homes for at least 20 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re advocating for is a minimum care standard of four hours of hands-on care, per day, per resident,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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THE KEY ISSUES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Critical PSW staffing shortage<\/strong><\/p>\n