CFNU President Linda Silas urges premiers to listen to voices on the front lines of health care

Silas: Only with all levels of government collaborating meaningfully on proven solutions can we end the crisis in care

July 17, 2024 (HALIFAX, NS) – As the Council of the Federation’s summer gathering comes to a close, Canada’s nurses unions are urging premiers to listen to the voices of frontline nurses and health care workers and prioritize solutions to address the ongoing health staffing crisis and ensure access to care at all ages.

“Retaining our nurses and health care workers is tantamount to fixing the health care crisis. It’s simple: there is no health care without health care workers,” said Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU). “In the face of a global nursing shortage, we need a national approach to health workforce planning data now more than ever. This collaborative approach is critical to ensuring everyone in this country has access to the care they need when they need it, from primary care to long-term care and home care.”

This week 21 premiers and senior staff met with nurse union leaders for a policy-focused panel discussion with Dr. Jane Philpott, long-term care expert Dr. Samir Sinha and Nova Scotia nurse practitioner Santina Weatherby. The discussion focused on solutions to alleviate staffing pressures from primary care to long-term care.

The CFNU is calling on all levels of government to support the robust recovery of our health care through key evidence-based solutions:

• Implementing nurse-patient ratios to address unsustainable workloads and improve patient care
• Enforcing mandatory long-term care standards to address the safety and quality of seniors’ care
• Ensuring everyone has access to primary care in their community
• Collaborating on a pan-Canadian approach to health workforce planning data to ensure our public health care system is strong for generations to come

Silas emphasized that in health care, the conditions of work are the conditions of care. Silas said governments, employers and unions need to work together to make nursing a desired career path.

“In the wake of staffing shortages across our health care systems, we need to do everything we can to make nursing and health care jobs the best jobs in our communities,” said Silas. “It will take meaningful collaboration with all our governments, employers and unions to truly turn the tide on staffing shortages. Nurses’ unions stand ready to work with provinces and territories on proven solutions to address the unsustainable working conditions on the front lines.”

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The CFNU is Canada’s largest nurses’ organization, representing frontline unionized nurses and nursing students in every sector of health care – from home care and LTC to community and acute care – and advocating on key priorities to strengthen public health care across the country.

For more information, please contact Adella Khan, media@nursesunions.ca, 613‑807‑2942.