If anyone cares to listen, nursing union report offers results-driven solutions

Opinion

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This article was published 13/02/2025 (238 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There are some good recommendations in the Manitoba Nurses Union report released this week on the province’s troubled health-care system.

It’s all fine and good to shine a light on the deficiencies that plague the system. But it’s another thing to offer practical and effective solutions to them.

The MNU report, dubbed the White Paper, contains some of those solutions.

Most of the criticisms in the report are not new. Growing ER wait times, an increase in the number of patients leaving hospital without being seen by a doctor or nurse practitioner, high nursing vacancy rates and a growing reliance on overtime and expensive agency nurses have all been reported on regularly in this newspaper.

What gets less attention, though, are some of the solutions to these problems.

Obviously hiring more nurses (and other health-care staff) is the ultimate solution. But that can’t be done overnight.

And while the province has increased the number of nursing education spots at the University of Manitoba, there are barely enough new graduates to replace retiring nurses (many of whom plan to retire early because of burnout and poor working conditions), the report points out.

The province has launched other recruitment programs to attract retired nurses and others back to the public sector. But it’s not enough.

There are still massive shortages in the system, which forces hospitals and other facilities to increase overtime, hire more private agency nurses and leave some shifts unfilled.

That drives up costs, fuels workplace burnout, causes some nurses to retire early and diminishes patient care.

The province can’t recruit its way out of the problem, at least not in the short to medium term. But there are measures that could be implemented right away to better utilize existing nursing resources, the report says.

One is creating a centralized scheduling system so part-time and casual nurses can easily pick up extra shifts. According to the report, that’s not easy to do under the existing scheduling patchwork across the province.

“This fragmentation prevents nurses from easily accessing available shifts at different facilities, even when they are qualified and willing to work,” the report states. “Instead, schedulers frequently default to mandating overtime or contracting private agency nurses — draining public resources and increasing nurse burnout.”

In 2021, the province and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority committed to implementing a centralized shift availability system within two years. But to date, little progress has been made, the report says.

Another recommendation: expand Manitoba’s Provincial Travel Nurse Team, the so-called “float” system that allows nurses to fill shifts at their leisure and at their worksite of choice.

Trouble is, the program is not being used to its potential, the report says. For example, program schedulers are difficult to reach in the evening and on weekends, which often forces employers to rely on overtime and agency nurses, instead.

Some employers, including long-term care facilities, don’t participate in the program. And there are undue administrative delays in processing new applicants. The MNU recommends improving the float system by expanding program scheduling to evenings and weekends, getting more facilities to participate in the program and shortening the processing period to 15 business days.

“Connecting willing and able nurses to available work should be a simple process,” the report says. “Other provinces have invested in effective scheduling systems and seen measurable improvements in staffing and retention. In contrast, Manitoba’s reliance on outdated and inconsistent scheduling platforms prevents nurses from seeing available shifts, aligning schedules and making informed decisions about additional work opportunities.”

Instead of fixing those issues, the NDP government has mandated that health authorities cut their administrative costs by eight per cent. The MNU fears that may result in health authorities reducing, or not increasing, administrative supports that are necessary to improve scheduling and make it more flexible for nurses to pick up extra shifts.

The report also recommends expanding the use of nurse practitioners, who are trained to provide a wide range of care to patients. Doing so would boost primary care and help improve the overall health of Manitobans. It would also reduce hospitalizations.

The province also needs to do more to strengthen the nursing mentorship program for new graduates, the report says. The existing classification for nurses, which comes with a boost in pay, is not being implemented in all facilities, the MNU says.

“New graduates with access to mentoring support show higher levels of competency and greater retention, leading to enhanced patient care,” the report says. “Without structured support, they risk burning out, leaving the profession, or turning to private agency work for better conditions.”

The report offers many other solutions, such as improving safety at hospitals and investing more in home-care nurses, which would help alleviate hospital overcrowding.

These are all things the province could do now to help solve the crisis in health care. Hopefully, the politicians are listening.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca

MNU White Paper