Finding a way forward
Nurses unions’ calls for fixes to ongoing health-care system issues amplified by pandemic
It’s no secret that what unfolded in 2020 following the emergence of the global COVID-19 pandemic has placed an unprecedented weight on the shoulders of health-care professionals.
This weight is one that Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions president Linda Silas describes as a crushing burden, with no light at the end of the tunnel.
“It’s been 14 months and there hasn’t been any reprieve,” she says. “Even in areas where the numbers were not always heavy, our nurses are now always on edge. We watch the news, things can change so quickly.”
Silas explains that the issue has been amplified by a lack of qualified nursing professionals nationwide. With a pre-existing standard and expectation for workers to put in overtime weekly, even those hours have increased more than 100 per cent in provinces like Ontario and Quebec following the implementation of emergency measures to fill the gaps.
But overtime hours seem like a small price to pay compared to the 85,000 health-care workers who have contracted the virus — 52 who have lost their lives — fighting on the front lines to protect their communities.
Silas says that of those 52 workers, 70 per cent made an annual salary of less than $25,000.
“There is a registered nurse who passed away — he had volunteered to go work in the vaccination clinic. But because he wasn’t full-time, he wasn’t eligible for a shot, contracted the virus and died,” she says.
As we move forward through 2021 toward a postpandemic future, Silas says it
“It’s been 14 months and there hasn’t been any reprieve … Even in areas where the numbers were not always heavy, our nurses are now always on edge. We watch the news, things can change so quickly.” Linda Silas
President, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions
is essential for governments to step up in order to address the issues that ultimately lead to low nurse retention and attraction numbers.
“Nova Scotia took a handle of the nursing shortage before the pandemic creating the Nursing Advisory Committee. They know they have to develop a strategy,” says Silas.
Silas says while this may have come too late to avoid existing issues she and other health-care workers had been speaking up on, she hopes the recognition of these existing shortfalls within the system improves working conditions and health-care services as a whole for Canadians.
“If you acknowledge that we have a crisis and you’re willing to work with us to fix it, that’s a first step,” she says.
Until then, Silas hopes the number of those infected will begin to decrease as the public remains vigilant, safe and aware of the risks around COVID-19. She says this will offer some much-deserved reprieve for our country’s dedicated nurses.
“You stay home, you wear your mask, you run to get your vaccination and then you run to get your second,” says Silas.