June 23, 2008	PDF format: 16 Kb

The recent cancellation of surgeries at the BC Children's Hospital because of nursing shortages are only a glimpse of what lies in the future unless the provincial government and its health authorities pursue strategies to retain existing nursing staff. Statistics released by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions last week demonstrate the scope of the nursing shortage in Canada and its potential impact on the future:

• 20.8% of Canadian nurses represented by the federation are 55 years of age and nearing retirement (almost 33,000)
• Canadian nurses worked almost 18 million hours of overtime - the equivalent of 10,000 full-time nursing positions.

"We've been telling the provincial government and health authorities for a long time that thousands of nurses are reaching retirement age. Unless working conditions improve nurses will leave the profession and we'll have a healthcare crisis that was entirely preventable," said Margaret Dhillon, Executive Councillor at BCNU.

The provincial government has increased enrolment at nursing schools by 97 percent but it will not be enough to replace those who may leave on retirement. More needs to be done to further increase enrolment so people on nursing school waiting lists receive training.

But even increased enrolment at nursing schools will not replace the number of retirement-eligible nurses if they leave the profession. Part of the solution is retaining experienced nurses to provide healthcare for Canadians and mentor new graduates. "BCNU has solutions to improve nursing conditions such as the reduction of violence and the delegation of clerical duties to appropriate personnel. Measures like these will attract retirement-eligible nurses to stay in their careers. We hope the government will work with us seriously on this problem before we have a full blown healthcare crisis in BC," said Dhillon.