Aug 14, 2006
When will the public get what it is entitled to? Under the Canada Health Act every Canadian is entitled to universal and accessible health care. While we still have one of the better systems in the world, Canadian health care continues to be under stress.
One of the main reasons for this (to quote the Ontario Nurses' Association) is there are still not enough nurses. Most health-care units are hopelessly overburdened and under-staffed and the quality of patient care deteriorates as a result.
Only the really acutely ill are hospitalized and yet, in many cases, receive less than quality care because the nurses have too many patients and not enough time. Beds may be available in hospitals, but there is not enough nursing staff to care for the patients.
As well, a large proportion of current nursing staff will be retiring over the next five years leaving an even larger deficit since they are not being replaced at the same rate by graduate nurses. Many of those new grads have not had the proper orientation before they are expected to function on their own far too quickly.
Full Story: Better health care means more nurses [Durham region news,Canada]
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