ome, Sept. 3, 1986 EXODUS A HEADACHE By DENNIS BUECKERT Canadian Press MONTREAL — Three years ago Nancy Deutsch graduated from nursing school with high hopes and a desire to help people, but this summer she enrolled in night school determined to train herself for a different career “I always wanted to be in a helping profession,” said Deutsch in an interview. “But nursing is a lot different than I thought it would be.” Deutsch is one of thousands of trained nurses who have decided to leave their profession in recent years in an exodus that is causing headaches for hospital admini strators across Canada Deutsch says there is a simple reason for the problem: nurses can't cope with deteriorating working conditions. In Quebec, where the problem seems to be most acute, many hospitals have had to close beds because they can't find enough nurses to staff them. At the other end of the country, more than 500 British Columbia nursing positions are vacant for lack of qualified candidates. Deutsch says that at the large Montreal hospital where she used to work, a team of registered nurses and one nursing assistant was expected to take care of 40 gynecological and geriatric patients during » 12-hour night shift “In general there has been tightening of the nursing labor market across Canada,” said Derwyn Sangster, director of Canadian Occupation Projections System at the federal Department of Employment and Immigration. BLAMES CUTS Hospitals basically control the number of nursing positions available, and in recent years many hospitals have reduced nursing staff to save money. That was created the overwork which is now driving many nurses from the field, says Raymonde Bosse of the 4,000-member Quebec Nurses Federation Bosse argues that there are plenty of nurses around, but they are not working or they are working on a part-time basis only. “We are saying it is an artifical shortage,” she says. “There are enough nurses coming out of the colleges, but after two or three years they shy away from the profession.” Canada has about 170,000 registered nurses, says Ida Irwin, a public relations official with the Canadian Nurses Association. But that total doesn’t mean much because many of those who are registered no longer practise their profession full-time Adequate statistics on nursing demand and supply are not available, she says What is clear is that many hospitals across the country are being forced to call on private placement agencies for temporary nurses to fill gaps in their wards — paying them substantially more than regular staff nurses. SITES SHORTAGE Charles Senechal, director of nursing services at Montreal's Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, recalls a recent evening when the institution was five nurses short in its special wards “We asked the nurses on duty to stay longer, then we had to call an agency.” Senechal said that private agencies normally charge 10 to 30 per cent above the salary of regular staff nurses, and sometimes double the normal rate His hospital is so desperate that it hired 50 nursing students this spring before they even had their licences yet the staffing problems persist “We know there is an important shortage of nurses at the present time.” he says. “Nurses say they feel over whelmed, that they can't work satisfactorily.” Jack Cox, a spokesman for the Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia, says there are 525 un filled nursing positions in his province “Part of the problem is that nurses are no longer staying in the profession,” he says. “It's been called the burnout factor. There is a great deal of stress and pay is not that attractive.” Lorine Bessel, director of nursing at Montreal's Royal Vijgtoria Hospital and a past president of the Canadiaf Nurses Association, says her hospital has had to clos¢ 27 beds for lack of nurses Bedsel says that the nurses’ workload has increased because patients are released from hospital sooner than they used to be. “Three years ago if you had an appendectomy, you would be in the hospital 10 days. Now you will likely be released after two days. That means the patients on the wards are sicker and have more intensive needs.” Basse! says that most nurses still love what they do, but they're not paid what they're worth Salary figures provided by the Canadian Association of Nurses indicate that the two provinces experiencing the greatest difficulty Quebec and British Columbia also have significantly lower pay scales than neighboring provinces. In Quebec, the starting salary for a general duty staff nurse is $20,731, the, lowest in the country, and about 25 per cent less than the $27,947 starting pay in Ontario your B Auto Rentals Answer to Sunday Crossword Puzzle No. 224 Anpwer to Sunday, Aug. 31 € sany KIND NOAH, WHILE ANIMALS ONTO ARK “NOW THING ryptoquip. LOADING MOTLEY VE HERD EVERY MOROSO, MARKIN & BLAIN CERTIFIED GENERAL ACCOUNTANTS 241 Columbia Ave. Castlegar Ph. 365-7287 Brian L. Brown CERTIFIED GENERAL ACCOUNTANT 270 Columbia Ave. AVIS Vehicles Available to ICBC Claimants LOCATED AT Castlegar Airport Terminal Adastre Aviation — 365-2313 WE LIVE UP TO OUR NAME! We feature GM end other fine cors © Prompt local pick-up © We meet insurance companies ollowances tor replacement transportation * Open 7 days o week * Ask about our weekend specials For out-of-town reservations 1-800-268-8900 Castlegar Ph. 365-2151 SOLIGO, KOIDE & JOHN CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS 615 Columbia Ave. (Upstoirs) Castlegar Phone 365-7745 Henry John, B.Sc. C.A Resident Partner Appliances | APPLIANCE | PARTS ANDO ; SERVICE DEPT Call 365-3388 All Brand Nomes Serv All Parts Stocked Rebuilt Timers Used Appliances ond Consignments © Comm-Operated Machines © Industral Loundry WE ALSO SERVICE + KENMORE * INGLIS + HOTPOUNT + ETC CASTLEGAR PLUMBING & HEATING LTD 45 3388 1008 Columbia Avenus Appliance Rentals TIRED OF LAUNDROMATS? 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Kosiancic s Farm Crescent Valley Call 359-7231 or 359-7953 Tree Service Reasonable Rotes 365-2710 357-9930 Estimates Watch this diet work. = Fos HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 7.300.m tollam Sot 80m Yom Call 365-6256 Legislative Parliazent Victoria, vav 1X4 exhibit An exhibit by Castlegar ar- tist Colin Pryce opened Friday night at the Homestead Soup and San- dwich Shoppe . . . A6 Unique program Westar Timber's Southern Wood Products and the Regional Recreation Com- mission have embarked on a new employe recreation program. .. AS number was 20. numbers in Saturday's Lotto 6-49 draw were 8, 9, 19, 35, 39 and 48. The bonus The $500,000 winning number in Friday's Provincial lottery draw is 2292598. VOL. 39, No. 72 CASTLEGAR, BRITISH COLUMBIA, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1986 2 Sections (A & B) UP IN FLAMES . . . Robson volunteer firefighters douse blazing shack on Br di Road landing. Fire was deliberately set earlier this week as part of firefighters’ practise TO CHOOSE CANDIDATE Local Socreds set date By CasNews Staff and News Services Rossland-TrafSocial Credit party members will select a candidate for the next provincial general election Sept. 29 at a nomination meeting in Tadanac Hall But just when an election will be called is anybody's guess. “We have no idea when the election is, a member of the constituency past-president said Carl Price executive and a party Price said the local executive has always agreed that an early nomination — at least a year in advance of an election would be best. The candidate would need time to prepare especially since the riding is held by the New Democrats. Price explained The premier's agreed with us, but whether we're going to get that chance or not, we don't know,” Price said Anders Thomson of Fruitvale is the only declared candidate, though Price said no one has officially filed any papers yet However, he said as many as 14 residents have ‘indicated some kind of interest” in the nomination Price added that the party expects a “much better turnout than the 250-300 members it had at its 1983 nomination meeting And he said interest in party memberships has been “just incredible.” “It's like selling nickel ice cream.” Meanwhile, buoyed by the political honeymoon of his first month in office, Premier Bill Vander Zalm says there is a great temptation to call an early election although he still wants time to put his own imprint on the British Columbia government “The readings are good and there's a lot of support, and this obviously, under our system, makes it very tempting to go earlier rather than later,” the premier said. “Everything seems to be in our favor.” Sworn in as premier a month ago Saturday after winning the Social Credit leadership, Vander Zalm does not hold a seat in the legislature. Resignations have left three Socred seats vacant, and at least five other members of his caucus are not seeking re-election Vander Zalm could try to win a seat in a byelection but said he has been getting almost daily calls from Socreds to ride his tide of popularity and call a general election soon The premier said he has not made up his mind, but he has sais Grovinnsty that elections must be called when there is the [greatest likelihood of victory. A meeting with the cabinet and caucus scheduled in Prince George from today to Tuesday is expected to discuss the timing of an election as well as economic strategy If the meetings convince him the time is right, Brit sh Columbians could be heading to the polls in mid October Election campaigns in the province last 29 days. Ina byelection, he is expected to run in the South Peace River constituency left vacant by the departure of former international trade minister Don Phillips. But in a general election, Vander Zalm is considering the Vancouver-area riding of Righmond. Current standing in the 57-seat legislature is Social Credit 32, NDP 21, progressive Conservative one and (hree vacant What has been holding Vander Zalm back { general election so far is his desire to have “a little time to establish a-record, and I don't think two or months is sufficient.” But he has already asked some riding associat start nominating candidates. We should be ready at all times so we can go whenever it is we want to go,” the premier told reporters Vander Zalm, 52, who quipped a month ago tha premier’s job was a “piece of cake,” said he now unders why premiers age quickly “There are just not enough hours in day, that’s all. I wish I could somehow clone me, and have two or three of me afl over the place. That's the only difficulty running Te a more hree s to the ands session. the Castlegar ferry CosMews Photo by Ryen Wilson Flawed stamp given cold shoulder By CasNews Staff While Eastern Canadians have been stampeding to their post offices to snap up a flawed 34cent stamp, most Castlegar residents have passed up their chance to pick up a potential collector's item “There was no public noise about it at all,” Castlegar Roy McNeil said Thursday postmaster A printing mistake on 300,000 of some 3.6 million recently issued stamps honoring British explorer Henry Hud adon gas study gets green light By SIMON BIRCH Staff Writer — The Central Kootenay Union Board of Health voted 10-6 Thursday to spend $4,000 on a study of radon gas in homes in the Castlegar, Trail and Nelson area. Randon is a gas formed by the breakdown of uranium and when in haled it lodges in the tissue of the lungs and increased the risk of lung cancer, Central Kootenay Health Unit director Monty Arnott told the board. A 1978 study ed Castlegar had the highest levels of radon among hones in non-urantum mining areas in Canada, Arnott said. He said the source of the radon is rock and cement used in the founda- tions of homes. He added that rock formations in the West Kootenay have high uranium content. Arnott said the new study will be a “more appropriate study of the possi ble effects . . . to find out if there is a health problem and possible remedies.” Monitors in the homes would take radon readings over a long period of time, he said; adding that the study would last about year. Central Kootenay chief public health inspector Mike Harnadek said~ the length of the monitoring will result in a “more meaningful” study than the 1978 study. Arnott said one of the possible remedies that might arise from the study is better ventilation of base ments in homes. Better ventilation would help disperse the gas, he said Arnott estimated the cost of the study to be about $10,000. He said he has applied to the Health Research Foundation for a grant to help pay for the study. 1! | y L iistlf in Beotin” But he declined to reveal her ‘exact date and place of birth, sayir g She publication of personal details of general's office, McKernan said. son drew thousands to Pp centres in Canada when collectors believed the stamp might be valuable But McNei Canada rost doesn’t issue the local post office many of the new stamps anyway Eastern They give us such a little amount they're usually gone fairly quickly.” he said, usually within a week It was tne same story at the Nelson post office's philatelic centre “There hasn't been too much of a run here,” a Canada Post Nelson said He added that perhaps the there wasn't a rush to grab the stamps is because there were so many of them that were flawed “If there had been just a few hundred”, then people would have been rushing to collect them, he said spokesman in reason 2 Health board shifts sanitation policies By CasNews Staff Central Kootenay Union Board of Health's policies were downgraded to re commendations Thursday long and sometimes testy over the board's misuse of the policy and its authority to influ land development in the W Kootenay with the tions. A 108 vote at Thursday's quar terly meeting changed the policies sanitation to recommendations alter a narrow to drop the polities altogether and follow the British Ministry of Health's minimum sanitation guide controversial 98 defeat of a mot after a debate Columbia erm lines Leading the fight against the health board's recommendations continued on page A2 recommenda