‘I just couldn’t take it anymore’: Why these long-term care workers left the industry

By Christl Dabu

Updated: May 28, 2025 at 5:30 PM EDT

Published: May 27, 2025 at 4:56 PM EDT

Wendy Harvie of Oshawa, Ont., shares why she quit her job at a long-term care facility.

Wendy Harvie decided to quit after working for 14 years as a personal support worker at a private nursing home.

The 60-year-old woman from Oshawa, Ont., told CTVNews.ca this week that she endured years of violence at work, including “abuse” from residents, which got worse towards the end of her time working there.

“We were always having somebody up at night that was disruptive or aggressive or violent, like there was always somebody that was up that didn’t go to bed, that would be up screaming for no reason,” Harvie said in a video interview. “It wasn’t health care, it was hell-care. It really turned me right against going into any other institutional setting.”

Although she still doesn’t have job protections or benefits from currently freelancing for private clients, she says it is better for her well-being.

She says she and her coworkers suffered injuries from residents using canes, walkers, cups and hot drinks as weapons, adding she was punched, kicked and pinched. She described how residents dug their nails, usually full of feces, into her skin. They also scratched her, pulled her hair and spit on her. She says she also saw people wiping feces on walls, playing in them or eating them.

During her time there, she says workers like her didn’t feel safe or supported. Before she quit her job around 10 years ago, Harvie says she had taken about eight months of stress leave from work.

Harvie is among the rising number of people who have left the long-term care industry in Canada. The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) released a study last week that highlighted the challenge of meeting the demand for long-term care workers in the country.

Read more at CTV News