Duclos said Leigh Chapman, a 20-year veteran of the profession, will take over the job, which is being revived after it was abolished about a decade ago. Speaking to reporters at an event in Ottawa, Chapman said her job will be to “amplify the voice of nurses” and complement the work already being done by chief nurses at the provincial and territorial levels. ATTENTION: Duclos reinstates the position of head nurse
Duclos reinstates the position of Chief Nursing Officer
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos has named Leigh Chapman as Canada’s Chief Nursing Officer to help the government address severe staffing shortages in hospitals across the country. Duclos said Ottawa will not stand idly by while the country’s health care system faces unprecedented staffing issues — shortages that have forced some hospitals to temporarily close their emergency rooms or review the quality of care. Medical professionals have left the field in droves after more than two years of difficult conditions related to the pandemic. In Ontario, nursing associations have also protested a provincial law that caps wage increases at a low level, which they say is hindering efforts to retain experienced nurses and recruit new ones. A recent study, commissioned by the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, found that one in two registered practical nurses in the province are considering leaving the profession in the coming months. Nurses cite poor working conditions and a lack of resources to treat patients properly as reasons for leaving. While some provincial health ministers have argued there’s a “crisis” underway in health care — Ontario’s Sylvia Jones said it’s not unusual for some provincial health ministers to temporarily shut down, for example — Duclos said Tuesday there’s a “growing crisis ». and something must be done. ATTENTION: Leigh Chapman appointed Canada’s chief nursing officer
Leigh Chapman appointed Canada’s chief nursing officer
Chapman will take on the role of chief nurse – part of the federal government’s approach to worrying staff shortages in hospitals across the country. Duclos said Ottawa needs someone like Chapman, a nurse with front-line experience, to provide “valuable knowledge and expertise to inform national policy and program design,” including planned initiatives to expand its workforce. health care. “I will be able to rely on her efforts and her ability to commit to bringing people together because we are going through a crisis,” Duclos said. Nursing associations praised the government’s appointment of Chapman. A nurse works at the Jean-Talon Hospital in Montreal. Pandemic burnout has created alarming staff shortages in many parts of the health care system. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada) Sylvain Brousseau, president of the Canadian Nurses Association, said the profession needs to be better represented in the federal health bureaucracy. He said he hopes Chapman can help Ottawa bolster the nursing ranks nationally. “We know it can’t be fixed overnight. It’s going to be a long road,” Brousseau said. Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, said she contacted Chapman to set up a meeting minutes after her appointment was announced. She said she wants Chapman to know that many nurses feel “daunted” when they show up to work each day because staffing levels are so low in many facilities. “They’re afraid of doing something wrong, of harming a patient because they know they’re so understaffed that they can’t provide quality and safety,” Silas told CBC News. “They’re devastated. They feel they can’t provide the care they trained for. They became nurses because they want to do great work in their community, but now they’re stuck.” ATTENTION: Nurses ‘fear’ of understaffing, says union representative
Nurses are “fearful” of understaffing, says a union representative
Canada’s new chief nurse must work to retain and return nurses to work urgently because many overworked nurses fear making a patient mistake, says Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions When pressed by reporters to say whether more federal dollars will soon flow to the provinces and territories to help a system on the ropes, Duclos said those talks are ongoing. He said it will ultimately be up to the country’s finance ministers to come up with an appropriate dollar amount for health care — the new funding premiers have been demanding from Ottawa for years. Just this week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and three premiers from the Atlantic provinces met in New Brunswick to discuss the state of affairs. All left the summit calling on Ottawa to spend more than it does now to help provinces deal with rising costs as the pandemic drags on and the population grows.
Ottawa can do more: Duclos
While he deferred to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on how much more federal money might be available, Duclos said there is room for Ottawa to do more. “I am an ally in resources and outcomes for my colleagues in the health sector, who need this support from the federal government,” he said. But Duclos said governments should approach the problem with the goal of making tangible improvements, not just spending more money. He suggested that Ottawa picks up about 35 per cent of all health-care-related costs already borne by the provinces — a claim the provinces have disputed. The federal Liberal government has said it is not willing to write a blank check to the provinces, that it wants some of its money to go towards certain initiatives. In March, Duclos laid out Ottawa’s top five priorities: ending service delays, many more health care workers, improved access to primary care, a better long-term care and home care system for seniors, more resources for mental health and substance abuse and a renewed push to digitize health data and facilitate more virtual care.
