The nurses at Whitehorse General Hospital are frustrated, anxious and demoralized about working conditions there, according to New Democratic Party MLA Steve Cardiff.

"We've been advised that nurses at the hospital have filed dozens upon dozens of complaints about their various concerns and are still waiting to have these concerns addressed,” Cardiff told the legislative assembly during Monday's question period.

Cardiff again raised the issue Tuesday, and, for a second day in a row, Health Minister Glenn Hart said it's an issue for the hospital's human resources department and its CEO, Joe MacGillivray, to address.

"(Cardiff) obviously has a pipeline to some disgruntled employee,” Hart suggested Tuesday.

He reiterated what he said at the beginning of the week: that there's a study "with regard to the work being completed by the nurses.”

But the Health minister stopped short of agreeing to present the study's findings for members of the assembly, noting he was "assured by the CEO that they are reviewing the situation.”

In early May, Dr. Rao Tadepalli, the Yukon Medical Association's president, raised the alarm about the overwhelming burden placed on hospital emergency staff by patients requiring treatment for severe intoxication.

"Right now, we're in a desperate situation,” Tadepalli told the Star.

On average, one in four emergency room patients at Whitehorse General are severely intoxicated, said Tadepalli, which translates to between 15 and 20 such cases every day.

Calls to MacGillivray to comment on Cardiff's charges were not returned by press time early this afternoon.

If emergency room doctors are stressed, however, it is reasonable to expect that nurses working alongside those doctors are feeling the strain as well.

No nurses who currently work at Whitehorse General would speak to the Star on the record regarding working conditions at the hospital for fear of losing their jobs.

However, nurses the paper contacted corroborated Cardiff's claims.

One hospital employee said that routine cases of infection and IV medication dispensation from Watson Lake are regularly transferred to Whitehorse General, adding to the workload.

The employee, who spoke to the Star on condition of anonymity, also said there are plenty of casual staff members willing to take permanent positions, yet the Yukon Hospital Corp., which runs the facility, is unwilling to take advantage of that fact.

The corporation prefers instead to rely on a hiring agency, said the source ­– the cost of which is nearly double that of a regular staff member.

The Star has also heard complaints from registered nurses (RNs) asked to train licensed practical nurses (LPNs) to dispense drugs to patients.

As training in the proper and safe practice for pharmaceutical delivery requires intense oversight and evaluation, some RNs feel this is placing more onerous demands on their already demanding schedules.

Liability issues are also of some concern to nurses tasked with training LPNs.

The Star has asked the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPS) – the union representing nurses at Whitehorse General – for its position with respect to on-the-job nurse training in the Yukon.

A spokesman said last Friday he expected PIPS to have a statement regarding such training at the beginning of this week, but to date, the union has not spoken to the issue.