Interest in nursing rising as SHA deals with staffing shortages
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is battling with a nursing shortage across the province.
The SHA said as of December, there are 647 registered nurse (RN) or registered psychiatric nurse (RPN) vacancies and 155 licensed practical nurse (LPN) openings.
Cheryl Pollard, dean of the faculty of nursing at the University of Regina, said the vacancies are being credited to retirements and burnout.
“We’re seeing nurses that are within their first five years of their profession and starting work wanting to change careers,” Pollard said. “(COVID-19) has affected our mental health in ways that we wouldn’t have predicted before the pandemic.”
However, that has stopped people from wanting to get into nursing, according to Pollard.
She said interest in nursing programs has gone up, with three to four applications for each open seat in the program.
“I think that speaks to the values that we hold near and dear here in Saskatchewan. If there is a call and someone needs help, we will figure out a way to do that,” Pollard added.
Currently there are 350 seats in the U of R’s nursing program.
The University of Saskatchewan told CTV news it has 345 seats in the school’s College of Nursing Bachelor of Science Nursing program.
Both universities said their programs have about 300 nursing graduates each year.
To push more graduates into the workforce, Pollard said the universities are working with the SHA to add more seats to the programs, as well as shorten the education time.
“We may be looking to add more seats for people who already have degrees or looking at clinical (lateral). So if someone’s an LPN already, is there a way to speed up that education into being an RN,” said Pollard.
In a statement to CTV News, the SHA said it is working with staffing agencies to secure nurses for the Royal University and St. Paul’s Hospitals emergency departments from December 2021 to March 2022, to ease some capacity concerns.
“This is a short term measure to bridge the gap in staffing while new nurses are being trained and oriented into the emergency departments,” the SHA continued in its statement.
The province is also recruiting international nurses, with a focus on workers from the Philippines.
“The SHA is hoping to recruit at least 150 and as many as 300 health care workers over the course of this initiative focusing on hard to recruit staff including Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses, Medical Laboratory Technologists and Continuing Care Assistants, noting that any of the targeted list of occupations/professions will need to take into consideration accreditation and licensing requirements here in Canada,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
The province did a similar initiative during nursing shortages 2007 and 2008.
Pollard said if the province and SHA agrees to increase the number of seats in the provincial programs and shortens the time of in-class education, Saskatchewan could fill the vacancies locally.
“When we look at out own graduation and our own post secondary programs, we’re really well positioned to help Saskatchewan meet the needs of its nurses,” Pollard added.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake reported off Vancouver Island's west coast
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
Ontario coroner to investigate death of man who suffered cardiac arrest while waiting in ER
A provincial coroner will be investigating the death of 68-year-old David Lippert, who suffered a cardiac arrest while waiting in a crowded emergency room in Kitchener, Ont.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
Federal government bans watercraft from Manitoba lake popular with tourists
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
Her SUV was stolen in Montreal. A Good Samaritan on Facebook helped her get it back
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.