A new study, being released in North Bay Tuesday, will show that Ontario’s predominantly female hospital workers are in "deep turmoil" as they labour through an intensifying staffing crisis that is harming their well-being and compromising patient care.
The full results of the study will be announced at a media conference in North Bay on Tuesday afternoon.
Running on Empty, published in New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, is co-authored by Dr. Margaret Keith and Dr. Jim Brophy, who since 2017 have spearheaded three studies on working conditions in Ontario’s healthcare sector. Dr. Craig Slatin, a U.S. health researcher, was a co-investigator.
Brophy will present the findings at the news conference along with co-author Michael Hurley, the president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE). The study is based on 26 in-depth interviews with CUPE hospital workers including nurses, personal support workers, and clerical staff. The qualitative study was complemented by a poll surveying 775 hospital workers, including those working in Northern Ontario.
