Dear Editor:
The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions wholeheartedly supports the position taken by the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union that the province cannot wait for the end of the current collective agreement to address the nursing shortage. While a shortage of nurses exists right across the country, nowhere is it worse than in Newfoundland and Labrador. In your province, it is no longer unusual for nurses to work double shifts or to be denied vacations or time off work because there is nobody to replace them. The health of nurses is being undermined and patient care cannot help but be compromised.
As your province's nurses face some of the worst conditions in the country, they are also the lowest paid. Nurses recognize that they cannot continue to pay with their own health for inadequate investments in human resources and are leaving the profession or the province in disturbing numbers. Young graduates in your province will be unlikely able to work in Newfoundland and Labrador, choosing instead to start their careers where compensation and respect are greater.
Last June the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions held our national convention in St. John's. Our proceedings were opened by Premier Williams who said that he is alarmed to hear of nurses finishing a 12 to16 hour shift and then turning around to do another shift. Premier Williams recognized that the shortages have become so dire that the health of nurses is at stake.
"This is not a healthy situation," he said, "I recognize that situations like this cannot go unaddressed."
Nurses are calling on the premier and all of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to no longer tolerate these conditions. At our convention Premier Williams said that NLNU president Debbie Forward "always comes around with solid advice and valuable information." This time, Ms. Forward has come with a detailed prescription of what it will take to address the nursing shortage including guarantees that graduates will receive full time positions in the province, retention and recruitment bonuses, streamlined recruitment processes and wages on par with other provinces competing for your nurses. I hope that Premier Williams will work with nurses to get the job done.
Linda Silas RN
President of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions
Canadian nurses ask the premier to deliver on promises made earlier this year
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Published on
November 6, 2007
- Published on July 6, 2010
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Letters to the Editor (The Coaster)
Dear Editor:
The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions wholeheartedly supports the position taken by the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union that the province cannot wait for the end of the current collective agreement to address the nursing shortage. While a shortage of nurses exists right across the country, nowhere is it worse than in Newfoundland and Labrador. In your province, it is no longer unusual for nurses to work double shifts or to be denied vacations or time off work because there is nobody to replace them. The health of nurses is being undermined and patient care cannot help but be compromised.
As your province's nurses face some of the worst conditions in the country, they are also the lowest paid. Nurses recognize that they cannot continue to pay with their own health for inadequate investments in human resources and are leaving the profession or the province in disturbing numbers. Young graduates in your province will be unlikely able to work in Newfoundland and Labrador, choosing instead to start their careers where compensation and respect are greater.
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