Statistics Canada reports that the number of unfilled health-care positions in Canada has more than doubled since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to increased overtime and sick leave among care providers. This has had a significant impact on nurses, personal support workers, and care aides, who have struggled to keep both their patients and themselves safe during the pandemic.
The fourth quarter of 2022 saw a record high of 95,800 vacant health-care jobs, which is more than double the figure from the fourth quarter of 2019. Two-thirds of these vacancies were for nurses and support workers. In addition, overtime hours increased from an average of seven hours per week in 2019 to 8.6 hours per week in 2022, amounting to more than a full day of extra work. Furthermore, staff missed almost an additional week of work in 2022 compared to 2019 due to illness.
The president of the Canadian Nurses Association, Sylvan Brousseau, warns that if changes are not made, nurses will leave the health-care system to seek employment in other fields. This will have a detrimental impact on the quality and safety of patient care. Steven Lewis, a health-care policy professor at Simon Fraser University, describes these trends as a “perfect storm” that is demoralizing and exhausting the workforce.
One concerning aspect is that these trends feed into each other. The high number of job vacancies forces workers to take on overtime to compensate, which increases the risk of burnout or sickness. Lewis emphasizes that losing three-and-a-half weeks of work per year to illness and disability is bordering on a crisis.
In regions where an increase in the number of nursing students has been reported, Lewis suggests that the challenge may lie with the conditions of the healthcare workforce rather than a lack of interest in the profession. He believes that staff should focus on tasks they are specifically trained for, while other duties can be assigned to different healthcare professionals.
Rosalie Wyonch, a health policy analyst with the C.D. Howe Institute, agrees that streamlining processes and eliminating work that adds stress but doesn’t contribute to patient care would make the healthcare system more efficient. However, according to the StatCan report, work absences actually increased in 2022, defying the expectation of a return to normal. This is both surprising and concerning, indicating the need for further investigation and action.
Wyonch, Lewis, and Brousseau highlight that the challenges faced by healthcare workers predate the pandemic. Failure to address these issues will result in greater staff shortages and strain on the healthcare system, which plays a vital role in serving Canada’s growing and aging population.
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