An Alberta Health Services (AHS) nurse said she was discriminated against for her vaccination status, and was told by a colleague her children should be taken away from her..Premier Jason Kenney admonished Albertans on Tuesday for treating the unvaccinated “as though they are somehow unclean” and likened them to people living with AIDS in the mid-1980s..“That there’s this notion that they had to be kind of distanced for health reasons. Listen, this is this is a terribly divisive attitude.”.“So yes, we encourage people to get vaccinated, but treating treating people who have made a different decision as though they are unwelcome as members of our society is not acceptable,” said the premier..The nurse temporarily lost her livelihood as a home care nurse when she refused to comply with AHS’ mandatory vaccination policy..She spoke to the Western Standardon the condition her identity is protected..She said her vaccination status opened her up to discrimination by colleagues, citing an incident on social media outside of work hours..“They basically just said that your actions have consequences and the consequences are you losing your job. And then it also got heated and they said they hope I lose everything, including my children,” said the nurse..After the nurse was placed on an involuntary leave with no pay December 13, 2021, a family member of one of her clients complained about her vaccination status..“How dare I go into their home unvaccinated…I went (prior to being placed on leave) and did an assessment because they were needing increased support,” the nurse said..The nurse said she never posed a risk to her clients because of multiple daily assessments of symptoms..“Before initiating any client contact in person, we’re expected to pre-screen to see if anyone’s ill with fever, cough, shortness of breath, or if they’ve been in contact with someone with COVID-19.”.The nurse said AHS “mismanagement is the problem, not the unvaccinated.”.“(AHS) never stopped, took a breath and thought, what is this policy going to do? What kind of impact is it going to have? How is it going to affect staffing and bottom line? How does it affect the people on the front line?” said the nurse..“AHS’ code of ethics talks about providing quality patient care to every Albertan. And when they get rid of that many staff that quickly they’re not able to provide that care.”.She said the top-heavy organization is out of touch with front-line staff..The nurse also talked about the human cost to the public health restrictions..“I had a 95-year-old client at the beginning of COVID-19 and I went to his house to help him with a catheter change,” said the nurse..“He was so distraught and upset because his wife of 60 some years was in an Alzheimer’s unit in the community and he wasn’t allowed to go in.”.Instead, “he was offered a once a week one-hour Zoom meeting with his wife.”.The nurse said the man cried on her shoulder and she broke AHS protocol to hug him..The nurse said more of her clients chose to die at home because they didn’t want to risk being prevented from seeing family amid changing COVID-19 restrictions in the hospitals..She said the vaccine mandate roll-out took an emotional toll on her..“I’ve had excellent performance reviews over the 16 years of my career. So to hear that I was so easily disposed of because I chose to not take a medical procedure nearly ruined me.”.The nurse sent a victim’s impact statement to the premier and AHS CEO Verna Yiu but did not get a response..Amber Gosselin is a Western Standard reporter..agosselin@westernstandardonline.com
An Alberta Health Services (AHS) nurse said she was discriminated against for her vaccination status, and was told by a colleague her children should be taken away from her..Premier Jason Kenney admonished Albertans on Tuesday for treating the unvaccinated “as though they are somehow unclean” and likened them to people living with AIDS in the mid-1980s..“That there’s this notion that they had to be kind of distanced for health reasons. Listen, this is this is a terribly divisive attitude.”.“So yes, we encourage people to get vaccinated, but treating treating people who have made a different decision as though they are unwelcome as members of our society is not acceptable,” said the premier..The nurse temporarily lost her livelihood as a home care nurse when she refused to comply with AHS’ mandatory vaccination policy..She spoke to the Western Standardon the condition her identity is protected..She said her vaccination status opened her up to discrimination by colleagues, citing an incident on social media outside of work hours..“They basically just said that your actions have consequences and the consequences are you losing your job. And then it also got heated and they said they hope I lose everything, including my children,” said the nurse..After the nurse was placed on an involuntary leave with no pay December 13, 2021, a family member of one of her clients complained about her vaccination status..“How dare I go into their home unvaccinated…I went (prior to being placed on leave) and did an assessment because they were needing increased support,” the nurse said..The nurse said she never posed a risk to her clients because of multiple daily assessments of symptoms..“Before initiating any client contact in person, we’re expected to pre-screen to see if anyone’s ill with fever, cough, shortness of breath, or if they’ve been in contact with someone with COVID-19.”.The nurse said AHS “mismanagement is the problem, not the unvaccinated.”.“(AHS) never stopped, took a breath and thought, what is this policy going to do? What kind of impact is it going to have? How is it going to affect staffing and bottom line? How does it affect the people on the front line?” said the nurse..“AHS’ code of ethics talks about providing quality patient care to every Albertan. And when they get rid of that many staff that quickly they’re not able to provide that care.”.She said the top-heavy organization is out of touch with front-line staff..The nurse also talked about the human cost to the public health restrictions..“I had a 95-year-old client at the beginning of COVID-19 and I went to his house to help him with a catheter change,” said the nurse..“He was so distraught and upset because his wife of 60 some years was in an Alzheimer’s unit in the community and he wasn’t allowed to go in.”.Instead, “he was offered a once a week one-hour Zoom meeting with his wife.”.The nurse said the man cried on her shoulder and she broke AHS protocol to hug him..The nurse said more of her clients chose to die at home because they didn’t want to risk being prevented from seeing family amid changing COVID-19 restrictions in the hospitals..She said the vaccine mandate roll-out took an emotional toll on her..“I’ve had excellent performance reviews over the 16 years of my career. So to hear that I was so easily disposed of because I chose to not take a medical procedure nearly ruined me.”.The nurse sent a victim’s impact statement to the premier and AHS CEO Verna Yiu but did not get a response..Amber Gosselin is a Western Standard reporter..agosselin@westernstandardonline.com
