Changes in Health Care

Health care as an industry is changing in Canada and the US. Budget concerns seem paramount and are apparently the stimulus for these changes. It must be remembered though that fiscal responsibility should not compromise patient care. Already in my nursing practice, I see incidents that lead to unsafe situations for patients and staff. Professional responsibility forms are being filled out at an alarming rate as staff try to stop the tide of unsafe health care sweeping Canada.

This past weekend, the CEO of Alberta Health Services was quoted as saying that just because a unit had a registered nurse running it in the 1990s does not mean it needs to be run by one now. He states that things must change not stay the same. Dr. Duckett could not be more wrong! I shudder to think of the professional liability of health care workers who make mistakes because they are not trained to see the entire medical picture. And let’s not forget the human price of those mistakes—the patient, the family and the staff all pay a high emotional and psychological price for a negative impact on a poorly managed case.

A registered nurse has always been in charge of a hospital unit. Not because of her special status in the hierarchy but because of her experience, skills and education. To have the head of Alberta Health Services not comprehend (or appreciate) the importance of this role is shocking. It also means that negligence and malpractice is about to become a common theme in Alberta trial law.

I wonder if Dr. Duckett has budgeted for increased insurance , settlements and claims?

Cutting the Heart Out of Health Care

As a Registered Nurse at an acute care hospital in the province of> Alberta since 1988, I would like to call attention to an issue that will have a devastating impact on the quality of health care and patient safety in this province.

Health Minister Liepert announced that the nursing shortage in Alberta went from 1400 nurses to 30 in a single day. This was not some miracle. What it means is that a hiring freeze was implemented and vacant Registered Nurse positions mysteriously disappeared. I am writing to tell you that the nursing shortage is NOT over in Alberta and that we need to hire RN's more desperately than ever.

"Replacing" RN's with Licensed Practical Nurses and Patient Care Assistants is not the answer, but rather a question of fiscal short-sightedness. Studies show that investing in Registered Nurses can SAVE money in the long run, with reduced hospitalization times and fewer adverse patient outcomes. If immediate action is not taken, the situation is likely to worsen.

Recruiters from other provinces and other countries have become very active here and we are in serious jeopardy of losing more nurses. Senior nurses are looking to retire in the next few months rather than face more cutbacks like those we had in the 1990s. Memories are vivid of the last cutback experience from which Alberta has never truly recovered.

Registered Nurses are the very heart of health care, and many of us fear that Minister Liepert's dangerous experiment of cutting RNs will leave Alberta's health care system dead on the operating table.