As bargaining discussions continue this week between the B.C. Nurses' Union (BCNU) and the province, one key issue the union hopes to push is British Columbia’s commitment to nurse-to-patient ratios.

While B.C. was the first to embrace the initiative in Canada, BCNU president Adriane Gear says work has stalled on applying these ratios in emergency departments across B.C. at a time when ERs are facing long wait times and closures .

Gear says the province is already implementing these ratios in intensive care units and general medical and surgical departments, as part of the first phase of the rollout this summer . The emergency department ratios were finalized in September 2024 , she said, but work on figuring out how to apply them across different hospitals has slowed since M

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