For Immediate Release February 24, 2006
Nurses tell government they have a long way to go to ensure improvements in continuing care.
Registered nurses are pleased the government plans to increase budgets and staffing levels in the continuing care sector. But the nurses’ union says the government has to go a lot farther and again calls on the government to require appropriate numbers and mix of personnel to meet the needs of residents in continuing care.
“Government is putting some funding into some areas, but this is a missed opportunity in terms of really addressing the needs in continuing care facilities,” says UNA President Heather Smith. “There is nothing here, we have to wait to hear what standards are going to actually be recommended by government.”
“We told the MLAs that the draft continuing care standards were far too vague, and so did many others,” says UNA President Heather Smith. “Now we want to see if they are truly going to incorporate stakeholder input and legislate standards that safeguard good care.”
Nurses are also concerned that standards be clear, public and include a plan for real enforcement.
“Health Regions are streaming many people who formerly qualified for full Nursing Home care into cheaper assisted living facilities where there is no Registered nursing staff at all,” she says.
The government report says that the lower level of care in assisted living facilities is the appropriate choice, but for many Albertans now it is the only “choice” available.
In Lethbridge right now, for example, the Chinook Health Region is closing the Extendicare nursing home facility and converting the St. Michael’s Health Centre to special services. The Region will go from 440 to just 120 nursing home beds in the city. The residents are being moved into assisted living facilities and into lodges.
“We are hearing reports that increasingly residents in assisted living are shuttled back and forth to Emergency rooms of hospitals because their needs cannot be met in understaffed and under-skilled facilities. They need higher levels of care than they get in assisted living,” Heather Smith says.
She says Health Regions should closely monitor the utilization of acute care and Emergency rooms by assisted living residents.
“They need to look at the big picture and be able to show that this isn’t penny-wise and pound-foolish. Failing to invest in appropriate skilled care in continuing care may translate into even higher acute care costs. And how do you “cost” the anguish and suffering that seniors and their families are forced to endure?”
“For more than a decade we have appealed to government to increase funding and raise staffing levels,” Heather Smith said. “This is only one step forward in a longer journey to assure vulnerable Albertans that their needs will be respected and met in continuing care.”
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For further information:
Heather Smith, RN, President of United Nurses of Alberta 780 425-1025, 780 940-9974
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