The head of the province’s nursing union says nurses at two local hospitals are owed their vacations.
Earlier this week, the Nova Scotia Health Authority sent a letter to nurses at the Guysborough
Nova Scotia Nurses Union President Janet Hazelton
Memorial Hospital and the Eastern Memorial Hospital in Canso stating the authority can’t approve summer vacation requests at this time. Greg Boone, a spokesperson for the health authority, said they are mandated by a new contract to let nurses know about the status of their vacation requests by March 15.
Janet Hazelton, head of the Nova Scotia Nurses Union, said they filed a grievance. Hazelton said it’s the employer’s job to figure out the situation, adding the nurses are owed vacation. The new contract obligated the nurses to figure out their vacation requests and then offer them to the employer with plenty of notice.
Hazelton said she spoke with human resources at the NSHA and told the authority they have to allow for vacations.
While the authority says they are trying to recruit more nurses to the facilities, Hazelton says that’s great but there are other options available such as moving a part-time nurse to full time or recruiting from other facilities.