'it's still chaos': what nurses are looking for in the saskatchewan budget
"our healthcare is more dangerous and more precarious than it ever has been for both patients and nurses."
3 minute read
tracy zambory with sun said the state of the nursing shortage is worse than ever, and is hoping the sask. party comes through with their promises during the budget announcement.
kayle neis
/
regina leader-post
“the nursing shortage is worse than ever.”
that comes from tracy zambory, president of the saskatchewan union of nurses. she says it’s important for people to understand that the data on nurses is skewed.
she explains that all nurses in the province, even those working on contract, need to be licensed by the college of registered nurses of saskatchewan. she added that contract nurses make up a good part of the increase in saskatchewan.
the provincial budget is being announced wednesday, and zambory will watch closely to see if the saskatchewan party makes good on its promises.
“we need to see the fulfillment of the promise that was made during the election.”
she said the nursing task force needs to be implemented, and they need to start addressing issues that plague healthcare in the province. zambory also said targeted funding is needed to make it successful.
“our healthcare is more dangerous and more precarious than it ever has been for both patients and nurses.”
permanent hallway beds have been established at saskatoon’s royal university hospital, zambory said, adding they’ve even been given their own name — “pods”.
“all it is, is a great big service hallway that’s so brightly lit 24 hours a day that patients have to put covers on their eyes to try to get sleep,” zambory said.
advertisement
“this is what we call healthcare in saskatchewan.”
premier scott moe hinted at some of the provincial-budget announcements while at a sarm convention last week, saying urgent care centres were going to arrive in saskatoon, north battleford, prince albert and moose jaw. he also said the sask. party government will ensure that people will be able to access a health-care provider regardless of where they live in the province.
“if you do not have the staff, it falls on the staff there that are trying to cope. and the people that pay for it at the end of the day, are the people that we are to be caring for in the province,” zambory said.
zambory submitted an access to information request, saying they learned that in the 2023-24 fiscal year, travel-nurse expenditures reached $82.7 million.
“which is the equivalent of 304 full-time equivalents.”
she said in 2021, travel-nurse expenditures were $12.3 million.
zambory said overtime hours for registered nurses have increased by almost 20 per cent since 2022, adding there were over one million hours of overtime in 2024.
she also referenced a report from the canadian federation of nurses unions that came out at the end of january. it said saskatchewan has the highest number of student nurses (24 per cent) that want to work casual hours. that same report said casual hours increased by 12 per cent in 2024.
advertisement
“there’s been no improvement in healthcare around here,” she says. “we’ve gone exactly the opposite direction, and it’s really quite frightening for everyone.
“we cannot continue to have an increasingly casualized workforce. this means that there’s (vacancies in the schedule).”
the reasoning for this casualization? zambory said it’s due to issues on the frontlines not being addressed.
“it’s still chaos.”
last week, regina general hospital declared “code orange” due to overcapacity in the emergency room, which is typically announced for situations that involve mass casualties like a plane or bus crash.
“code orange is for disasters … not because we’ve let the system collapse.”
zambory wondered how we can continue to expect nurses to want to continue to work in that environment on a full time basis.
“we can’t. they’re going to say, ‘you know what, i’m going casual. that way i can pick my hours. i can have a work/life balance, and i don’t have to be faced, day in and day out, with the worsening, worsening, worsening situation.'”
the saskatoon star phoenix has created an afternoon headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. click here to subscribe.
with some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. click here to subscribe.
share story
