Nearly 800 nurses from across Canada gathered in Vancouver June 8-12 for the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions biennial meeting.
CFNU launched ThinkNursing.ca about moving Towards a Better Workplace at the Convention. The website has new information about innovative steps to improve working conditions in nursing.
"Let's make today's reality of nurses being the sickest, the most overworked or the quickest to burnout history, a thing of the past," said CFNU President Linda Silas. She also said she was struck by two particular comments by nurses. "One was the message that I am tired of normalizing my abnormal work environment! The other was a message of hope: close the old window and let in new energy, by mobilizing nurses."
The toll from the on-going national shortage of nurses was another recurring topic at the meeting. Nurses were shocked to hear that Alberta had "declared" that the shortage was over and is "pretending" not to need more nurses.
One nurse quipped: "How long is the wait time for the surgery to have these government folks' heads reattached and put on right?"
Alberta nurses are well represented at the meeting, and learned a great deal about "diversity" the overarching theme of the convention.
"With so much migration and overseas recruitment of nurses, we have to put racism and racial discrimination in the discussion. If we don't name that issue then we cannot discuss that issue," researcher Josephine Etowa from Dalhousie University told the delegates.
CFNU also released a new national poll showing Canadians want governments to put a priority on funding the health system.
Poll: Canadians want governments to address nursing shortage, health care
Government spending on health care continues to be a priority for Canadians, a national poll released by CFNU to open the Biennium shows. The poll found that three out of four Canadians would choose increasing the number of nurses over a tax cut. Conducted for the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions by Nanos Research, the poll of 1,000 Canadians gauged public opinion on government actions needed to address Canada's nursing shortage. "Governments must not repeat the mistake of the 1990's and use the
economic downturn as an excuse to cut health care", warns Linda Silas, RN, President of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions. “The nursing workforce has never recovered from those cuts. Canadians support investments in nurses."
The poll found that:
- Three out of four Canadians are of the opinion that increasing the number of nurses is more important than providing a tax cut.
- Nearly six in ten Canadians believe that the nursing shortage is a serious problem, while another three in ten believe that it is somewhat serious.
- Even in the current economic environment, health care ranks as the top priority for government spending among all Canadians. In Ontario and the West, health care tied with the economy as the top spending priority for government.
- Nearly half of Canadians said they would likely vote against a government that did not properly fund health care, while another one in five said they would be somewhat likely.
- Nine out of ten Canadians support or somewhat support the government doing more to retain nurses who are currently working and to increase the number of nursing graduates.
- The majority oppose the government increasing the number of patients nurses must care for. |
