Sask. patient care at risk due to short staffing, nurses say overwhelmingly in survey
CBC
The Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) says the results of recent survey of registered nurses should be cause for alarm within the government.
SUN president Tracy Zambory said nurses overwhelmingly believe patient care has worsened over the course of their career. More than 1,600 SUN members completed the March questionnaire.
Zambory said 85 per cent of respondents reported patients being put at risk due to short staffing in the past year
"Members are telling us things are bad, that there are near misses in the system, that patients aren't getting the care they require, and that people are considering leaving the profession."
Zambory said 58 per cent of respondents said they have thought about leaving nursing in the past 12 months.
"Nothing has changed. It's only getting worse. So it is a very damning," Zambory said.
Zambory said the government can address concerns immediately by bringing registered nurses into discussions about improving the system, rather than leaving them on the sidelines.
She said a funded, rather than voluntary, mentorship program that was previously successful under the Brad Wall government would help younger nurses and those new to the province.
"We were able to go from, at that time, about 800 full-time equivalents short to a surplus because they chose to listen to registered nurses. They chose to form committees with registered nurses working right on the front lines and it was very successful. I was part of those committees. It worked."
Zambory also suggested a retention bonus of $10,000 for mid to late-career nurses to stay in the profession. She said similar programs were implemented in Nova Scotia and British Columbia "incredibly successfully."
She said both of those initiatives could happen in the short term and improve conditions in hospitals.
Zambory said the amount of money being spent on on overtime for SUN registered nurses, coupled with a reliance on more expensive travel contract nurses, show the province is not spending wisely.
She said the government is on track to spend $70 million on contract nursing in 2024.
Zambory said registered nurses worked just under 1.5 million hours of overtime last year.
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