Ontario nursing shortage hitting ‘crisis point’ as COVID-19 pandemic worsens again

By Faiza Amin and Meredith Bond

Hospitals across Ontario, including here in Toronto, are experiencing an unprecedented nursing staffing shortage, according to nursing groups who have raised this issue time and time again during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the emergence of the Omicron variant, cases and hospitalizations are expected to increase. That’s led to concerns that even more nurses will leave the industry.

President of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) Morgan Hoffarth said they are expecting to see a significant increase in the number of people leaving the profession.

In previous years, the RNAO said they had four to six per cent of nurses leaving annually. Now they say the number has jumped to 15 per cent.

The group, which represents over 48,000 members, says health care workers have been experiencing distress during the pandemic and can’t go on for much longer.

“It really is a desperate situation right now that they’re having, having to work double shifts on a regular basis, constantly working overtime. I’ve heard from one nurse about how they had to close inpatient pediatrics unit to admissions, because there were no nurses to work,” said Hoffarth.

Toronto is one of a number of larger cities facing staffing shortages at hospitals with nurses having to carry that burden. According to RNAO, experienced professionals, who they can’t afford to lose, are leaving.

“Normally in ICU, it would be one nurse for one patient, maybe one nurse for two patients if they were more stable in the ICU. And we’re hearing up to like one to four ratios, which is really concerning for those patients and their families who are having to have the nurse’s time, the nurse’s knowledge and expertise spread out amongst more patients than what they are normally expected to care for,” explained Hoffarth.

CityNews reached out to a number of Toronto hospitals that confirmed they are experiencing nurse staffing shortages.

Michael Garron Hospital currently has 102 vacancies for registered nurses and 112 for registered practical nurses.

In the last six weeks, they have been forced to run operating rooms at a reduced capacity, 15 per cent less than normal, due to “staffing pressures and unprecedented admissions to the Emergency Room.”

Meanwhile, Unity Health Toronto (UHT), which represents a number of medical facilities including St. Michael’s Hospital and St Joseph’s Health Centre says they are also experiencing a higher level of nursing vacancies.

“The pandemic has impacted the number of vacancies, as hospitals were required to create new positions to support COVID-19 vaccination and testing, as well as an increase in the number of patient beds, all of which draw on the supply of nurses,” read a statement from UHT.

University Health Network, Mount Sinai and Sunnybrook did not respond to a request for comment.

The province also did not respond to CityNews’ inquires but last week, Minister of Health Christine Elliott was asked about the issue during Question Period, saying the government has taken steps to recruit and retain.

We are making massive investments, educating nurses, more locations in colleges and universities, training more people … but that doesn’t happen overnight,” said Elliott.

The RNAO has put forward a list of recommendations to address the staffing shortage including fast tracking internationally educated nurses to become registered in Ontario.

They’ve also been calling on the government to repeal Bill 124 which caps salary increases for public sector employees at one per cent. “Nurses really feel undervalued [and] underappreciated,” said Hoffarth.

“There are some select public sector employees who are exempt from Bill 124. And for nurses, it really feels disrespectful to not have the salary increases that even keep up with inflation or the cost of living increases,” she added.

Hospitals are also working on their own recruitment strategies. Michael Garron is offering seven innovative recruitment initiatives tailored to nursing students, early-to-mid career and experienced nurses while UHT says they are continuing active recruitment, something rural hospitals have had to for several years and is now being adopted by larger urban centres.

RNAO says they have seen an increase in admissions to nursing programs across the province, but those nurses are still at least four years away from being registered.

 

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