Time to work together to combat nurse burnout
The COVID -19 pandemic has been difficult for everyone. According to the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU), the rates of anxiety and depression among Canadian nurses have increased more than 40 per cent during the pandemic. As well, one-third of Canadian nurses have given thought to leaving their current position or the nursing profession altogether.
Linda Silas has been president of the CFNU since 2003. Before that, Silas was the president of the New Brunswick Nurses Union (NBNU) for 10 years. She is a graduate of the Université de Moncton and has practiced in intensive care, emergency, and labour and delivery nursing.
Made up of eight provincial nurses' unions, the CFNU represents nearly 200,000 nurses and nursing students in Canada. The federation advocates for key health care priorities and engages federal politicians and policymakers.
The CFNU recently did an in-depth survey of Canadian nurses and data shows the prevalence of burnout in the profession. This recent survey reported that 94 per cent of nurses are experiencing symptoms of burnout and 45 per cent of survey respondents screened positive for severe, or clinical, burnout (which is a 50 per cent increase since 2019). Silas emphasizes the severity of this finding and points out that clinical burnout means that the individual needs clinical help.
One of the myths that Silas and the CFNU want to dispel is that current challenges in nursing are due to the pandemic. In fact, Canada's nursing shortage predates the pandemic and events since early 2020 have only served to amplify the situation. Due to challenging workplace conditions, heavy workloads and mental health concerns, many nurses are leaving the profession completely.
“The nursing shortage that started pre-pandemic is now a crisis. I've worked for close to 30 years in nursing unions and I've never seen a workforce this bad. Canadian nurses, and other health care workers, are expected to be martyrs and there needs to be a culture change,” says Silas.
Silas gives the example of early in the pandemic when nurses were not always equipped with proper personal protective equipment (PPE) and she says, “We were still there.”
The CFNU is prioritizing initiatives aimed at addressing the high rates of burnout among nursing professionals. Silas describes the current situation in Canadian nursing, with multiple urgent priorities, as “similar to playing the arcade game whack-a-mole.”
What suggestions does the CFNU offer to help ease the crisis? While hiring more nurses is key, retaining senior nurses is vital — particularly when they can share their experience and be mentors for nurses entering the profession. “Senior nurses, that are close to retirement, serve as a security blanket for both younger nurses and the overall health care system,” says Silas.
The CFNU states that “the role of internationally trained nurses in Canada's health care system cannot be overstated. Hiring efforts must look at reducing the barriers faced by these nurses.” Silas says that the process to transition internationally educated nurses into the Canadian system is “slow like molasses” and it is not uncommon for registered nurses to end up working as personal support workers for a period of time.
Verbal and physical violence have been a long-standing problem for frontline workers in the health care sector. A pre-pandemic survey found that that 21 per cent of nurses experience verbal abuse each day from patients or their families. In terms of physical violence, 81 per cent of nurses said that a workplace incident happens to them at least once a year.
Unfortunately, issues around masking and COVID-19 vaccinations have only made incidences of aggression and abuse against health care workers worse. However, from the patient's point of view, Silas notes “Can you imagine being sick as a dog and lying in a hospital hallway, because of overcrowding or short staff ?”
The CFNU also calls for the creation of a federal agency tasked with health care workforce planning, based on informed and up-to-date data.
Find out more about the CFNU at nursesunions.ca.