REGINA —Members of SEIU-West are celebrating the contributions of Continuing Care Assistants (CCAs) and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) to the Nursing team in Saskatchewan.
“We were able to meet with several Members of the Legislative Assembly over the past two days to discuss the issues that are facing our members who work as part of the nursing team,” says Barbara Cape, president of SEIU-West.
“I think the MLAs received an eye-opening education on the real challenges facing both professions.”
Some of the concerns expressed by CCAs in the May 12 meetings included examples of burnout due to the short staffing present in facilities across the province.
For LPNs, it’s the underutilization of their skills and scope of practice issues that are highest priority, whether it be in hospitals, home care, or long-term care facilities.
“LPNs are extremely capable and underutilized in Saskatchewan. We are not working to our full scope of practice,” says Jessica Perreault, a Licensed Practical Nurse working in the former Cypress Health Region.
“We have the knowledge and expertise to do more, and we’d like to see consistency across the sector in how LPNs are utilized in the health-care system.”
CCAs’ concerns focused on staffing levels, workloads and mental health.
“Many rural facilities don’t have enough staff on the floor on a daily basis, but we keep getting admissions, which adds to our workloads because no new staff are being hired,” says Mariann Marcia, a Continuing Care Assistant working in a rural long-term care facility in the former Saskatoon Health Region.
“Not knowing what you’re walking into day-to-day as far as staffing levels are concerned is stressful. It’s becoming unrealistic for people to have any work/life balance when my coworkers and I are fighting to survive while pretending everything is okay.”
SEIU-West remains committed to improving the conditions of work for the family of nursing and continues to fully participate in the Nursing Task Force meetings with the Ministry of Health, SUN, CUPE and SGEU. The minister of Health only provided a vague reassurance to “stay tuned” during the meeting with SEIU-West on Monday May 12, a SEIU-West press release states.
“What this comes down to is that the people of Saskatchewan, and our members, cannot ‘stay tuned’ for some announcement that may or may not improve our health-care system,” continues Cape. “We need a commitment now to better wages, better working conditions, and better use of the skills of our members. We are done waiting.”
