A group of Edmonton nurses has refused to swab patients for COVID-19 due to a dispute over personal protective equipment. “There was a small number of nurses this morning, as I understand it, that felt they may not have adequate protection,” Dr.
Mark Joffe said during a Saturday update by Alberta health officials on the virus. Joffe is an infection prevention and control physician and the Alberta Health Services medical director for northern Alberta. “As is their legal right, they made a choice not to provide the care that was being asked of them.” The United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) said around 30 nurses in Edmonton have “exercised their legal right to refuse work that they perceive to be dangerous to their health.” The issue surrounds the