May 11, 2011
May 9-15 National Nursing Week, celebrating Nurses
UNA survey shows nursing still desperately short
Joint project will improve staffing
Nurses and their employers will be holding special events all this week to recognize the tremendous contribution nurses make to the recovery and well-being of our patients, clients and residents.
“Nurses provide care in our homes, in our communities, in nursing homes, in correction facilities and in hospitals. From the youngest babies, to our oldest most vulnerable seniors, nurses are there to help,” says United Nurses of Alberta President, Heather Smith.
“National Nursing Week is set aside to celebrate the great contribution of all this vital work,” she says.
The shortage of nurses has been a long-standing concern in Alberta. In April, UNA conducted a survey of 1,500 nurses which shows they still are working many extra hours, extra shifts and overtime.
“We have a special project with Alberta Health Services and Covenant Health to convert many of the extra hours nurses work into new nursing jobs, or into added hours to current part-time jobs,” says Heather Smith.
“Increasing the proportion of regular hours will have significant benefits in health workplaces. We are looking for a more balanced workload, increased job satisfaction, fewer unplanned schedule changes and improved continuity of care for patients. It will also cut overtime costs.”
UNA’s randomized telephone survey showed that most weeks, 75% of the province’s nurses work over and above their scheduled hours. 64% of full-time nurses and 81% of part-time nurses reported working additional hours. Over 55% work six or more extra hours, most of it not at overtime rates.
“The extra, unplanned hours represent a major stressor in nursing,” Heather Smith points out.
Over 15% of nurses work 6 or more hours of paid overtime in an average week, which represents a significant cost for Alberta’s health system.
“We hope our new process of converting extra hours into regular positions will help cut down on this and put nurse staffing on a more regular footing. It can make it more sustainable – financially and physically for nurses,” Heather Smith says.
But the union also points out that more nurses are needed now. Sixty-eight per cent of nurses report that their regular workplace schedule is one or more nurses short of what they believe they need to be safe.
“Alberta will still have to educate and recruit far more nurses to keep care levels up to a high and safe standard,” Heather Smith says.
“Nothing’s changed much. We still have thousands of nurses retiring over the next few years,” Heather Smith points out.
“The good news is that overall nurses are less insecure and more satisfied with their jobs, than in the last couple of years,” Heather Smith says. “We feel like we’ve turned a corner and we are working with employers to improve the nursing situation as much as we can,” she says.
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