More than half of Saskatchewan’s registered nurses have given serious consideration to leaving the profession entirely in the past 12 months, according to a stark new survey from the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN). The survey of over 1,600 nurses highlights the severe impacts of short-staffing on patient care, prompting the provincial opposition to declare once again that the healthcare system is "going in the wrong direction."
The survey results, published Friday, paint a grim picture of the province's health system from the perspective of frontline workers. Key findings from the SUN member survey include:
- 53.4 per cent of nurses have seriously considered leaving the profession for another line of work in the last year.
- 82.4 per cent believe patients on their unit were put at risk due to short-staffing.
- 95.9 per cent say short-staffing has led to longer wait times for services.
- 92 per cent say it has resulted in delayed or missed patient assessments or treatments.
- 79 per cent believe short-staffing has led to the avoidable deterioration of a patient's health.
The Opposition NDP is blaming the situation on the provincial government, citing "18 years of Sask. Party mismanagement."
"The Sask. Party has claimed for years that they will fix healthcare in Saskatchewan and it's only gotten worse," said Jared Clarke, the NDP’s Shadow Minister for Rural and Remote Health.
"We constantly hear from frontline workers that the government is actively intimidating them when they should be empowering them - it's no way to run a health system and we see that in the numbers."
Clarke argued that the survey results are evidence of a system in crisis, pointing to the government's reversal on a promise to deliver 24/7 urgent care as proof that they have driven healthcare workers out of the province.
"After 18 years of the Sask. Party, our health system is ineffective, uncoordinated, and run by a government who won't listen to the people on the frontlines," Clarke stated. "We need more frontline services and less bureaucracy."