Ottawa Hospital front line nurses brace for Omicron effect amid staffing shortage crisis

Ottawa frontline nurses are bracing themselves for the effects that the COVID-19 Omicron variant will have on the community, all while dealing with a staffing crisis. 

Ottawa Hospital Registered Nurse Rachel Muir tells CityNews' The Rob Snow Show, staff are already doing more with a lot less people on every shift. 

She says the mood at The Ottawa Hospital, among its nursing staff, is turning more bleak every day. Most of the sentiments expressed start with “here we go again,” adds Muir. 

She and many of her colleagues are logging longer work hours these days, and it's leading to a greater number of burnouts.

“[Omicron is] going to have a big impact, potentially, on staffing again. Which, as it stands, trickles down and affects our ability to admit people, our abilities to provide necessary surgeries and care.” 

Muir represents the local nurses union at the Ottawa Hospital.

“If staff are unwell, they're out for 14 days. When you're already in crisis with staffing, to lose more staff makes the crises significantly worse,” she explains.

Muir says this period feels like “the calm before the storm,” as governments figure out how to tackle the new variant. “It  will affect the work lives and the home lives of nurses across the province.”

Listen to Muir's full conversation with Rob Snow: