B.C. to become first province in Canada to mandate nurse-to-patient ratios
In what's being touted as a Canadian first, B.C. will introduce mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios throughout the province's health-care system.
The move was announced Tuesday by Premier David Eby and Health Minister Adrian Dix at a news conference releasing the details of a tentative collective agreement that will impact the province's 51,500 registered, psychiatric and licensed practical nurses.
"This new staffing model will transform the way people are cared for by nurses as they will spend more dedicated time with patients," Eby said.
The BC Nurses' Union said the announcement was a welcome one, noting standards for nurse-to-patient ratios is something it has long advocated for.
"BCNU has been calling for nurse-patient ratios for more than two decades and believes they increase quality of care and decrease patient mortality," said Jim Gould, the union's interim CEO.
Gould added the agreement represents "an unsurpassed and historical set of investments."
A timeline for implementation was not provided but ratios will be set for nurses in community-based practice, hospitals, and long-term care.
In critical care settings, the proposed ratios are 1:1 for ventilated patients and 1:2 for non-ventilated patients. In mental health and high-acuity units, the ratio prosed is also 1:2. For other inpatient units and palliative care settings, the ratio is 1:4, and in rehab units it is 1:5. These ratios, the Health Ministry told CTV News are "proposed and subject to change."
Settings for which no ratio has yet been proposed include operating rooms, emergency departments, and outpatient clinics.
Dix was asked several times about when patients could expect to see changes. He didn't directly answer.
"The work is continuing but clearly assuming if this agreement is ratified this will give extraordinary momentum to those changes," he said.
BCNU president Aman Grewal said she and other members would be pressuring the government to act, noting it would take "some time."
"The hope is as our nurses who left the system -- either went casual or completely left the system -- when they see working conditions are improving...that they will want to come back to a profession that they love," she added.
Liberal healthcare critic Shirley Bond called the lack of specifics, frustrating.
"The announcement today has the potential to make a difference but until we see details and outcomes, I'm going to continue to be skeptical," she told reporters.
Acknowledging the significant and ongoing challenges recruiting and retaining health-care workers, the announcement says that efforts to find the number of nurses required to achieve these ratios will be ramped up nationally, and internationally – supported by $750 million in new funding over the next three years.
The union also said the hope is that these new standards will help attract workers to British Columbia.
"We believe today's announcement will encourage the levels of recruitment and retention necessary to significantly improve the current working conditions for nurses and quality of care for patients in this province," Grewal said in a media release
"Nurse-patient ratios will result in better patient outcomes, better working conditions for nurses and will have a positive impact on our nurse recruitment and retention strategies making B.C. the best place in North America to work as a nurse.”
Union members will vote on the tentative agreement later this month.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
Student anti-war protesters dig in as faculties condemn university leadership over calling police
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war at at universities across U.S., some of whom have clashed with police in riot gear, dug in Saturday and vowed to keep their demonstrations going, while several school faculties condemned university presidents who have called in law enforcement to remove protesters.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
'The world is too messy for bureaucratic hurdles': Canada still bars Afghanistan aid
Ottawa has plans to finally stop blocking Canadian development aid to Afghanistan this year.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'oesn't get' the global phenomenom.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Hamas is reviewing an Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, as possible Rafah offensive looms
Hamas said Saturday it was reviewing a new Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, as Egypt intensified efforts to broker a deal to end the months-long war and stave off a possible Israeli ground offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Russia renews attacks on the Ukrainian energy sector as Kyiv launches drones at southern Russia
Russia launched a barrage of missiles against Ukraine overnight, in attacks that appeared to target the country's energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, Russia said its air defense systems had intercepted more than 60 Ukrainian drones over the southern Krasnodar region.