Moncton, New Brunswick (May 27, 2014) - Today the Canadian
Federation of Nurses Unions published a new report which calls for
nurses, patients and their families to safeguard our health care
system and to reject irresponsible workforce redesign. Valuing
Patient Safety: Responsible Workforce Design provides stark
evidence of the effects of ill-considered experiments in the delivery
of patient care. Workforce redesign refers to nursing care delivery,
and changes to staff mix and staffing levels are the two most
common, outward signs. It is often driven by executive
administrative decisions, but even small changes can cause a domino
effect which directly impacts nursing care delivery and patient care.
Heavy workloads, excessive overtime and increases in injuries and
illness often result. The report points out that inevitably as workloads
rise, patients’ quality of care declines.
The report highlights the National Health Service (NHS) England and
the 2013 Francis Inquiry into unnecessary deaths, patient injuries and
gross neglect resulting from prioritizing budgets over quality patient
care. “As detailed in Valuing Patient Safety, the NHS England tragedy
is a dire warning to Canada on the risks of pursuing a similar path,”
says Linda Silas, President of the Canadian Federation of Nurses
Unions.
“As nurses, we must act to protect our patients and reverse the
dangerous trends in health care. It is up to us, as health care
professionals, to speak up for patients, and make our voices heard so
that everyone knows what is at stake,” added Linda Silas.
Valuing Patient Safety argues that patients must be at the forefront
of any redesign decisions. This means patient priority care needs
must be properly assessed using real time tools, based on factors
such as acuity, stability and complexity. Once patient needs are
determined, nurses and their managers should base staffing
assignments on the best fit between patient needs and nurse
competencies.
“Nurses must respond as a unified voice to those who want to define
or control our practice. As a discipline, we have specialized
knowledge and unique competencies,” Says Marilyn Quinn, President
of the New Brunswick Nurses Union.
Dr. Maura MacPhee, the report’s author and Associate Professor at
UBC’s School of Nursing, noted: “It is vitally important that our health
care system become more open, transparent and accountable so
that health care providers, patients, their families, and the public
have the information they need to influence and engage proactively
with decision makers in our health care system.”
Valuing Patient Safety is a wake-up call for health care decision
makers: its recommendations must be heeded in implementing any
workforce redesign in Canada.
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The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) represents close
to 200,000 nurses and student nurses. Our members work in
hospitals, long-term care facilities, community health care, and our
homes. The CFNU speaks to all levels of government, other health
care stakeholders and the public about evidence-based policy
options to improve patient care, working conditions and our public
health care system.
Contact:
Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, 613-526-4661
Linda Silas, President, 613-859-4314 (cell)
