The president of BC Nurses Union says there are still some worries after a new three-year deal was ratified last week.

Speaking on NL Newsday, Christine Sorenson points out only 54 per cent of nurses voted to ratify the deal that was reached two months ago between the BCNU and the Health Employees Association of B.C.

“I spent a lot of time talking to our members, I can say honestly that I’ve talked to thousands of our members across the province who are very concerned that staffing and workload won’t be addressed,” she says.

“This was the number-one issue for nurses going into bargaining, and we did put some innovative things into the contract to try to address that. The members are concerned that the employers will not commit to hiring the suspect that the nurses are saying are so desperately needed.”

Part of the new deal ratified on Friday includes a “working short premium.” That means employers will pay premiums when nurses are working short-staffed or are called in to work in short notice.

“We believe that this will strongly encourage the employers to hire the nursing staffing that is required to ensure that nurses are working with safe staffing levels. Or when there’s additional patient demand – more patients than the nurses can manage – that the employers will be bringing in the staff,” Sorensen says.