Fix nursing burnout or risk more staff shortages, says Sask. nurses’ union

An overwhelmed health-care system is causing nurses to burn out and contemplate leaving the profession altogether, the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) says.

“We’re at the potential of seeing an even greater shortage if we don’t do something about it,” SUN president Bryce Boynton said.

“We spend a lot of time discussing infrastructure, but what about people? We need to talk about how we can retain our people and build our nursing workforce so that we can actually function within the … infrastructure we do have.”

SUN surveyed 1,791 registered nurses in April about staffing issues and released a four-page summary of the results on Sept. 5.

About 53 per cent of nurses surveyed said they’ve seriously considered leaving the profession for another line of work in the past 12 months.

The provincial government must stop ignoring nurses’ concerns and their solutions, or risk losing them to other provinces or professions, Boynton said.

“That’s adding to the burnout because nurses are constantly having to prove themselves every single day that something is wrong,” Boynton said.

About 82 per cent of nurses surveyed said patients on their units were put at risk in the past year due to staff shortages.

Slightly more than 90 per cent of respondents said short-staffing in the past year led to longer wait-times for patients, poor patient experience, service disruptions, and delayed or missed assessments and treatments.

The Opposition NDP cited the survey at a media event in Regina on Monday. Jared Clarke, NDP critic for rural and remote health, said the provincial government must stop ignoring nurses’ concerns.

“The government promised the nursing task force during the provincial election last fall, but it’s been 10 months and that hasn’t happened,” Clarke said.

“Why is the government not willing to sit down with nurses and front-line health-care workers to actually hear the issues that they’re facing?”

Saskatchewan’s health-care recruitment and retention strategies are working, the provincial government said in a statement sent to CBC News.

Saskatchewan saw a net gain of 900 nurses in the past fiscal year and the province’s nursing workforce grew to 12,400 as of March from about 10,000 in 2018, according to the government’s statement.

“The lost, reckless and dishonest NDP continue to prioritize running down our province and our healthcare system while offering no alternative solutions or plans,” the statement said.