Nurses call for national strategy on seniors’ health care

Canada's nurses are urging the federal government to develop a nationwide strategy to ensure seniors receive proper care while alleviating the strain on the public health system. According to the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) president Linda Silas, nurses and health-care workers are overburdened, and Canada's aging population exacerbates the situation.

The federation highlighted a report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, which revealed that long-term care workers amassed over three million overtime hours in a year - equivalent to 1,500 full-time workers. Canadian nurses have been expressing concerns about a nursing shortage since the pandemic began, Silas stated in an interview.

During a meeting with provincial and territorial health ministers in Winnipeg, the CFNU called for a national human resources plan to address staffing challenges. Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel, after announcing a one-year extension to a 10-year, $1.2-billion funding agreement for mental health, substance use, home and community care, pledged to track health transfers to provinces for home care and nurse recruitment and retention.

Michel also pledged up to $6 million over three years to Manitoba for hiring 90 more internationally educated doctors, particularly those with emergency medicine experience for rural and northern areas.

Silas emphasized the need for transparency in funding for home care, stating that it must be directed towards patient care needs rather than being lumped together. The CFNU presented a report titled "Healthy aging, dignified care" to the country's health ministers, which outlines Denmark's "person-centered" approach to seniors care, focusing on staffing standards, prevention, rehabilitation programs and memory issue treatment.

Canadian nurses believe that this model can be cost-effective and improve patient care, according to MNU president Darlene Jackson.