Lions Gate nurs = Celebrations FZ Classifieds , Home & Garden Horoscopes i “ DECEMBER 26, 1999 Bright Lights Seniors Sports Travel RCN Pupbeaticn Conpary, Fublsher Peter Srecn 1139 Lonsaale Averen, Hoth Vancouver. BC VIM 244 Canadian Puotcatons Mad Sales Proce ct Agreement No 9087238 48 Pages. Training your four-legged companion using treats The Voice of North and West Vancouver since 1969 ng duties questioned ” LGH worker blasts resource allocation Anra-Louise Pentland Contrsbuting Writer A health care worker at Lions Gate Hospital is angry about what she sees as a misuse of valuable nursing resources. - . Marlene Knight said nurses in the acute care unit are run off their feet, while in long term care they have a lot of down time. She also said nurses are refusing to do certain per- nal care tasks, leaving an increased burden for other health care. workers to beaz. “Knight, who said she has heen a care aide ‘at the hospital since 1986, works shifts at both the long term care Evergreen House and‘in the acute care anit. “After Il aim., there’s nothing (for the ‘}RNs) to do,” Knight said. “We're doing the Ik of the work in Evergreen House.” . The’ 294-bed Evergreen has three regis- tered nurses at cach of its five units during the “day. Thete are also six full-time and four part- ime care aides, Knight said RNs won't do such tasks as “change Gedpans ur help feed the patients, Fire vict en if they aren’t doing anything clse. “She said at Evergreen House the RNs pri- marily give medication to the patients, while ‘RNs. are;sun off their feet in the acute care areas. Knight said other care aides have simi- complaints, bur ace afraid to speak up for “THE 15 residents who were :forced into the cold from their homes at 2357 Lonsdale by fire last Wednesday have received a number of helping hands. The - Provincial: Emergency Program has Offered the residents six nights at the Avalon tear of jeopardizing theiz jobs. Hospital spokesman Clay Adams said that although there are no legislative or collective agreement requirements to have RNs on duty, the provincial government funds health care at the level of 2% hours of care per resi- dent per day. “We are certainly not compromising our acute care with the operating of Evergreen House,” he said. Adams said RNs provide oxygen, dressing of wounds, patient assessment and IV thera- py, in addition to administering medication. But Knight said tasks other than giving ication are minimal in the long term care facitiry. Adams said, however, that Evergreen is not overstafied with RNs because, as the peo- ple in Jong term care facilities live longer and so become sicker, their need for medical care increases. But whether that care needs to come from highly trained RNs is up for debate. Margi Blamey, coinmunications officer for the Hospital Employees’ Union, which repre- sents the care aides, said how workload is shared among health care providers has been a problem for many years. “We've seen it percolate to the surface over the past few weeks in particular, because of chronic underfunding,” she said. “With the escalation of workload and people asked to do their own work and the work of other people.” ms supported said a number uf possessions were lost because of smoke damage. INo estimate of the cost of the damage is available yet. The residents’ suites may not be ready for them to re-occupy for some time, depending on how quickly the building owner carries out repairs. Cash donations can be sent to the Emergency Plan Program Office (147 &. 14th ‘Hotel. “The usual length of time is three days, !St., North Vancouver, V7L 2N4). ‘but the: residents were given an extension “because of the Christmas season. Support inchides emergency food, clothing and pet care. None of the residents had insurance. A : spokesman at the’ emergency prograrn office Donations of clothing aid household goods can be dropped off at the back of the Salvation Army Church at 105 W. 12th St. beginning Sunday afternoon. —— Anna-Louise Pentland Fashion 015 Stylish mementos to mark the millennium Effortless thrills and spills on Mount Seymour. Outdoors p15 WWW. T1SHnews. Com Suffering Samaritan _— NORTH Vancouver’s Mike Pattenaude takes a break on the front stairs of his Lower Lonsdaie-area home. The financial advisor has been struggling for the past year with a leg injury that resulted from a Christmas Eve good deed he per-. formed. Pattenaude now needs the help of those he helped. (See Ripping Yarns page 7.) .