Members of the BC NursesB次元官网网址� Union ended a rally Tuesday afternoon on the legislature grounds to the beat of Aretha FranklinB次元官网网址檚 Respect, which ran as a theme amid their demands for more equitable work conditions.

More than 200 nurses and nursing students from Dawson Creek, Prince George, Okanagan and just about everywhere in between arrived downtown for National Nursing Week to march from the Fairmont Empress Hotel to the legislature May 10, following a vigil held Monday.

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Dozens of participants sported signs demanding greater respect for B.C. nurses amid the challenges and hardships of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

B次元官网网址淢any of you have had to endure the heartbreaking act of holding the hand of a patient with COVID who is dying alone,B次元官网网址� said Aman Grewal, BCNU president and a nurse of 35 yearsB次元官网网址� experience.

B次元官网网址淚t is time for real change for nurses,B次元官网网址� she continued. B次元官网网址淚t is time for (the provincial government) to respect our nurses.B次元官网网址�

In solidarity with protestersB次元官网网址� demands for greater respect from Premier John Horgan and Health Minister Adrian Dix, Joseph Thomas of the Esquimalt Nation shared a couple moments of Indigenous singing and drumming.

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BCNU vice-president Adriane Gear reported that nurses are facing crushing workloads in unsafe conditions without personal protective equipment, having to work overtime and receiving parking tickets at work.

In wards such as emergency and intensive care, as many as one in two nurses are considering quitting their jobs, Gear said.

B次元官网网址淭he truth is weB次元官网网址檙e not heroes and we donB次元官网网址檛 have super powers. We are mere mortals.B次元官网网址�

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