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
Canada to see warm summer, wildfire risks loom for some regions: forecast
Get ready to feel the heat, Canada. Weather experts are predicting more sunshine and warmer temperatures for the summer.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.
3 Israeli soldiers killed in Rafah booby trap explosion, media say, as offensive widens
The Gaza health ministry called on Wednesday for ensuring safe pathways for the immediate entry of fuel and medical aid to Rafah and northern Gaza, according to a statement carried by Hamas media quoting spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qudra.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
Introducing peanut butter during infancy can help protect against a peanut allergy later on, new study finds
New evidence suggests that feeding children smooth peanut butter during infancy and early childhood can help reduce their risk of developing a peanut allergy even years later.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there's a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.