Arbitration is beginning today in a longstanding dispute between the BC Nurses Union and Island Health.
The BCNU is challenging the implementation of Care Delivery Model Redesign at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital in September of 2013, which replaced some nurses with care aides.
BCNU President Gayle Duteil says nurses are presenting evidence of how it’s putting patients at risk, and forcing nurses to compromise their professional standards.
Duteil says it’s a very unique case in Canada.
Duteil says this arbitration is about CDMR in Nanaimo, but similar versions of the same care model are being rolled out in other parts of the island and the province.
Initially there are just three days of arbitration scheduled but the process is expected to take months.
