Statistics Canada says B.C. is short 4,265 nurses. The results are closed ERs, and stressed patients and staff.
at the College of New Caledonia and the University of Northern B.C., said during her training she witnessed nurses working full-out to care for as many patients as they can. She hopes governments will do more to help.
Provincial and federal governments have responded to this crisis, but much more needs to be done to address the “really urgent” nursing shortage, said Elizabeth Saewyc, director of the University of B.C.’s school of nursing. “The overall impact of COVID has been challenging for people and people’s health. And so we’re dealing with this, and we’re responding with a massive addition to health-care staffing that, in some cases, was proven insufficient to demand. And we’ve got to keep working on it,” Dix said., B.C. had 4,265 nursing vacancies — three quarters of them for registered nurses, 20 per cent for licensed practical nurses, and a small number for nursing supervisors.
“When you started last, there is more room to go,” he said. “We’ve got to lead the country for a number of years to come.”Article contentfrom the Canadian Institute of Health Information showed B.C. had climbed to just ninth place by 2020 for its per capita number of registered nurses. “So we’ve seen what was already a shortage to start with has gotten worse. And there’s been early retirements, there are people leaving the profession because of the work environment, the intensity, the serious concerns,” she said. “It’s stressful when you’re worried that your patients are going to not get the care they need.”