A national survey shows one-third of newer nurses intend to leave the profession.
Survey results released by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Union (CFNU) also revealed that nearly half of nurses early in their careers reported symptoms of clinical burnout.
“People walk away from the profession when they are exhausted in terms of moral fatigue, don’t feel supported and don’t feel safe,” said Heather Smith, president of the United Nurses of Alberta which is part of the federation.
She said funding for mentorship and orientation for new nurses in Alberta has virtually disappeared.
As the federal government prepares to release its budget, Alberta CFNU members want funding available so new graduates are not considered part of regular staff for three months so they can become comfortable in the workplace and prevent such things as being be put in charge of staff their second week on the job due to a lack of workers.
She said the federal government could provide funding specifically for mentoring and support.
“I know Alberta Health Services is focusing a lot on recruitment, but we keep saying we need to focus on retaining the workforce we have and certain provinces have done better trying to do that than Alberta.”
She said Nova Scotia’s new $14.4-billion budget included $6.5 billion for health care, a 13 per cent increase, to support new initiatives and far outstrips the ratio of health care spending in Alberta.
“If you don’t deal with retention you’ll never be able to recruit enough. It will be a bucket you’ll never fill,” Smith said.
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The survey of 4,820 nurses between Jan. 16 to Feb. 12 also showed that four in 10 nurses are either intending to retire, leave their jobs, or leave the nursing profession entirely.
CFNU president Linda Silas nurses overwhelmingly cite high workloads and insufficient staffing levels as the top reasons they’re considering leaving. More than 75 per cent of nurses report workplaces that are regularly overcapacity.
“Canada’s nurses have been sounding the alarm on grueling and unsustainable health care working conditions for years,” Silas said in a statement.
“Solutions start with respecting nurses. Next week’s budget is an opportunity for the federal government to show they’ve been listening and introduce critical new retention initiatives that would start to pull our public health care system out of this crisis.”
She said the crisis facing health is unlike anything before, but it’s not beyond repair.
“We just have to work together and implement retention, return and recruitment initiatives, backed by a pan-Canadian plan to address the systemic challenges facing the public health system.”
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Survey results also indicate:
• Six in 10 nurses say the quality of health care in their workplace has deteriorated in the last year.
• Fifty per cent of nurses say their mental health is worse now compared to a year ago.
• Nine in 10 nurses experienced some form of abuse last year, which is unchanged from 2021.
• More than two in five nurses would consider staying in their role for days off, scheduling flexibility and lower taxes.
For more on the survey visit nursesunions.ca/nurses-say#1
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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