Editor:
To B.C. Liberal candidate Mathew Wilson:
As an RN working for over 20 years in residential care, I take umbrage with the letter that you wrote regarding the building of a new for-profit facility to replace Shorncliffe and Totem (“Care comes first,” Feb. 17). Firstly, your first clue should be “for-profit facility,” which speaks for itself – a privatized care home whose first mandate is profit, not care. And as to the absurd statement that wages must be retained, the sole reason for this restructure is to bypass the union wage standards and reduce employees’ income to a non-living wage that will make it impossible for workers in the new facility to support their families and their community in the way they are doing now. How do you plan to do this? Can you guarantee this? I think not.
As for the over-use of physical restraints in the facilities, that is an insult to me and fellow employees who strive on a daily basis to give the best possible care to the residents, who are our families and our friends, pioneers who have spent their lives building our community and now deserve to be treated better, not worse with a new system that will only inspire neglect, not improvements. Of course, we use physical restraints because we have to protect the wellness and safety of our residents. And this is mainly using a seatbelt on a wheelchair so residents will not fall and hurt themselves. Please tell me how you would protect frail elderly residents with dementia who have forgotten they cannot safely ambulate anymore. Following protocol, before any kind of restraint is used, we have discussions with the resident if competent, their family, and their doctor. Written signatures are required.
Your ignorance regarding this matter is appalling, and I have to ask the question: Have you ever spent time at Shorncliffe or Totem? How can you speak of something you obviously know nothing about? It leads me to the thought that you are putting your Liberal platform ahead of your common sense and your service to this community.
Catherine Nocente RPN, RN, Sechelt
