Nurse-patient ratio a key to helping fix B.C. healthcare challenges

KAMLOOPS — Improved retention initiatives, reduction of excessive working hours leading to burnout and phasing out reliance on private nursing agencies were atop the list when the provincial nurses union met with ministers in Prince Edward Island last week.

“We certainly don’t fault those nurses. The current working conditions are very poor. Nurses aren’t able to meet their practice standards. They really don’t have much in the way of work-life balance — certainly mandated to work overtime, very heavy shifts, being redeployed. There is lots of reasons why nurses may consider going to agency nursing,” said BC Nurses Union (BCNU) President Adriane Gear.

One of the key moves the union is hoping to implement is a patient-to-nurse ratio, which should help alleviate a number of concerns and help improve patient care.

“We know that once that’s implemented, that means better care for British Columbians,” said Gear. “British Columbians can expect to have better health outcomes. It’s also a huge retention strategy for nurses, because if nurses are able to provide the care that their patients require, if nurses are able to practice safely, they stay.”

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix was the first provincial minister to secure an increased federal healthcare transfer.

“That agreement that you heard about with the federal government, the lion’s share of that money is to support nurses. In this year’s budget, we have $200,000, then $250,000, then $300,000 that will be spent on nurses and on the [nurse-patient] ratio proposal. And one of the good things about it, just like the proposal we developed with doctors in B.C., is that we developed it together and are working on it together,” said Dix.

Both nurse and physician retention are major priorities for the ministry, with hospitals struggling across the province.

“We need to recruit more nurses. We are, we need to train more nurses, we do, we need to address issues around scope and practice. But, ultimately we need to retain nurses, because the fewer people who leave the profession, the fewer people who go on and do other things or choose other jobs than nursing,” said Dix.

Overall, the nurses union left PEI last week feeling optimistic about the future of health care in B.C.

“Nurse-patient ratios is hopefully going to be the strategy that is going to stabilize the healthcare system here in B.C.,” said Gear. “While that is being implemented, because we aren’t going to have nurses overnight, the health authorities really must do everything in their power to make the workplace safe and allow nurses to actually focus on providing safe patient care.”