Many of Ontario’s nurses are still talking about leaving the profession.
A new poll commissioned by the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions finds 62 per cent of Registered Practical Nurses questioned are considering leaving an already shorthanded sector.
Vice-president Dave Birch says wages and workload are at the heart of their concerns.
“When asked why they would consider leaving, four of ten, 41 percent, says it’s because the pay doesn’t match the high workload caused by working short,” says Birch.
Birch says the poll found many would stay if wages increased to $35 an hour.
The poll comes as the Ontario Nurses Association and the Ontario Hospital Association prepare for arbitration in May in their contract talks.
Nurses received a $5,000 retention bonus last year.
President of the Service Employees International Union’s Healthcare Nursing Division, Jackie Walker, says that is not helping keep nurses on staff.
“There may be a lot of new nurses coming into the profession, but talk to a registered practical nurse. Those nurses are not staying,” says Walker. “This generation coming in is seeing the excessive workloads. They’re seeing the poor working conditions, and they are leaving. They are not staying.”
Walker adds a majority of RPNs can no longer bear the emotional and physical risks arising from worsening conditions.
She says that unless wages and working conditions improve, wait time for health care services will only worsen.
