The reason I quit nursing for good - Registered Nurse Scarborough Health Network Employee Review

There is a strong culture of fear. Many staff are hesitant to speak up or utilize the union due to fear of retaliation from management. Orientation is inadequate. New staff receive less than the bare minimum, and nurse educators are often responsible for multiple units while lacking up-to-date clinical knowledge. During my time working in procedural areas, education and hands-on training were insufficient. In some cases, I had to rely on self-directed learning and informal support from the few remaining senior nurses. Many mid-career nurses who advocated for safe practice and adequate staffing have left or been pushed out. The workforce is now largely composed of new graduates and a small number of very senior nurses nearing retirement. Staffing and resources are frequently cut, and management appears to favor compliance over advocacy. Standards of care are not consistently followed and are behind current best practices. Concerns raised about this were not addressed through education or system-level improvements. On-call coverage and cross-coverage practices place staff in unsafe situations without appropriate training or support. Staff who raise concerns may experience increased scrutiny, write-ups, or disciplinary action, which discourages open communication and patient safety reporting. Leadership often relies on fear-based management rather than collaboration, transparency, or clinical competence. The only time patient safety issues were fixed were after bringing it up to the union after months of begging management to resolve the issue, the union was able to fix issues by going through labor relations.