More patient lifts are the best news in Alberta's "Health Workforce Action Plan"
Plan falls far short of the boost our health system needs in nursing numbers
On September 11, three cabinet ministers met at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton to announce, with great fanfare, the new Health Workforce Action Plan.
The best news the ministers announced was $27.5 million to buy patient lifts across the province and talked about core retention and recruitment issues.
However, the government's own strategy admits: "Despite the expansions, projections show that Alberta won't be able to produce the 15,000 health providers it needs by 2016."
The government’s plan includes $5.2 million for expanding health training including 258 new seats immediately. But only 37 of those are in general Registered nursing, 9 in graduate nursing and 35 in nursing specialties. There are also 128 extra spots for LPNs.
It might be acceptable for the government to suggest that the shortage is insurmountable and out of their hands, except for one damning fact: it was the Alberta government that short-sightedly and drastically cut the education of nurses and other health workers during the 1990s.
According to government numbers, in 1990 the province graduated 898 Registered nurses but by the end of the decade, 1999, only 440 RNs graduated. Since 2000 the numbers have been steadily increasing, and we are now graduating close to 1,500 a year.
However, the 1990s collapse in education has left our health system with a huge gap in the demographics of our health workforce. Today there are about 27,000 Registered Nurses and Registered Psychiatric Nurses providing care in the province but 10,000 of them are now over 50 and are starting to retire in significant numbers.
The government's action plan contains many good elements, including saving nurses' backs with mechanical patient lifts, and several strategies for increasing the education and recruitment of health workers. It even recognizes the importance of 'growing our own' health workers and that we need many more educators in nursing and other health discipline programs. It is however, too little, too late. This has serious implications for all of us who expect to retire and look forward to good care in our health system in the future.
The Alberta government must revisit its Action Plan and scale it up appropriately to adequately meet this pressing problem. To not do so would be seriously remiss in their responsibility to the people of this province. |
