{"id":323647,"date":"2025-12-03T23:14:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T23:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/323647\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T23:14:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T23:14:14","slug":"nurse-to-patient-staffing-ratios-a-critical-part-of-n-s-nurse-contract-negotiations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/323647\/","title":{"rendered":"Nurse-to-patient staffing ratios a critical part of N.S. nurse contract negotiations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

The number of patients that acute care nurses are looking after is a priority area for the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union in their next round of contract talks with the province.<\/p>\n

Nurse-to-patient staffing ratios are seen as a significant step to improve working conditions by the union, while also improving care for patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cNurses are working over-capacity all the time. They have way more patients than they should have and they feel unsafe,\u201d said union president Janet Hazelton.<\/p>\n

Health authority employers and the nursing unions agreed to establish nurse-to-patient ratios as part of the last collective agreement<\/a>, which expired at the end of October.<\/p>\n

Hazelton acknowledges that implementing the ratios turned out to be more complex than anticipated with different requirements in every location. But she said it is time for a concrete plan to apply ratios.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can’t keep saying we’re not doing it because we have vacancies,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As of Oct. 1 there were 872 full-time registered nurse vacancies and 246 licensed practical nurse vacancies, according to the Department of Health and Wellness.<\/p>\n

The department said it has made progress hiring new nurses, pointing to a net gain of 591 new nurses in the 2024-25 fiscal year.<\/p>\n

\"AUnion president Janet Hazelton said staffing ratios can help ease nursing workload issues, helping with recruitment and retention. (Gareth Hampshire\/CBC)<\/p>\n

The union acknowledges that implementing new staffing formulas across the system all at once is not realistic, but is hoping to see more details prior to contract negotiations.<\/p>\n

Introducing the measure at one facility, monitoring how it goes and scaling up to others would be a step in the right direction, Hazelton said.<\/p>\n

There have also been calls for action from the family of Shavonne Lees, who died after a long wait in the emergency room<\/a> at the Aberdeen Hospital in New Glasgow in 2023.<\/p>\n

Lees, 30, contracted sepsis, a life-threatening condition caused by the body’s overreaction to infection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her family has been campaigning for changes ever since.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had a nurse and that nurse was actually shared in the critically ill side of an emergency room with multiple other patients that were also critically ill,\u201d said her brother Austin Lees.<\/p>\n

He described the situation as \u201cchaotic\u201d and said his sister did not get the care she needed.<\/p>\n

Premier Tim Houston, who is also the family\u2019s MLA, has met with them several times and put them in contact with other officials, a statement from his office said.<\/p>\n

Improved sepsis care protocols and policy have been implemented following those meetings, the statement said.<\/p>\n

\"AElizabeth Smith-McCrossin said staffing ratios have already been introduced in British Columbia and her private member’s bill is based on that model. (Gareth Hampshire\/CBC)<\/p>\n

But the family is still pushing for improvements and has been working with the MLA for Cumberland North, Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin.<\/p>\n

She has since introduced a private member’s bill called \u201cShavonne\u2019s Law.\u201d It specifies standards for nurse-to-patient ratios across emergency departments based on models in British Columbia.<\/p>\n

The bill calls for one-to-one care in cases of patients who are triaged as a level 1 or 2 in emergency.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would have much increased retention of our nurses if they knew they could come to work every day and be in a safe working environment with better workplace conditions,\u201d Smith-McCrossin said, adding she is hoping the bill is called for second reading in the next session.<\/p>\n

The Department of Health and Wellness provided a statement to CBC News saying recruitment of nurses is a priority, particularly in emergency departments, and work is continuing with union partners.<\/p>\n

The department also said team-based staffing is in effect in most clinical areas, including emergency departments which have a range of other health-care professionals as well as nurses.<\/p>\n

The department said other efforts include increasing the number of nursing seats at post-secondary institutions by more than 400. The province is also extending an offer to hire all Nova Scotia graduates from Nova Scotia universities and the Nova Scotia Community College.<\/p>\n

It confirmed negotiations with the other unions representing nurses in the province have not begun yet, but said that is not unusual.<\/p>\n

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