https://www.cna-aiic.ca/fr/blogs/ic-contenu/2024/07/15/laiic-plaide-pour-lelargissement-des-roles
July 15, 2024 (Halifax, Nova Scotia) – At the Council of Federation meeting, Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) president Kimberly LeBlanc is calling on Canada’s premiers to accelerate health reforms that broaden nurses’ scope of practice. These changes are vital for leveraging nurses’ full skills and expertise to improve the efficiency of our health systems and adapt to structural health worker shortages.
With 6.5 million Canadians lacking regular access to a health practitioner, combined with ongoing health worker shortages, maintaining the status quo is untenable — especially since the demand for health services will increase as Canada’s population ages. Provinces and territories have initiated scope of practice expansions and reviews aimed at ensuring patients receive care from the most appropriate providers at the right time.
“Canadians face growing challenges to accessing health care. The leadership shown by provincial and territorial premiers in cutting red tape around health practitioners’ scope of practice is essential for enabling true team-based care,” says CNA president Kimberly LeBlanc.
CNA acknowledges the positive impact of the health bilateral agreements signed with the federal government earlier this year, but emphasizes that retention is crucial for stabilizing the nursing workforce. Canada’s international recruitment efforts must comply with the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel.
“Adding more nurses to a system that cannot retain them is like filling a leaking bathtub. Greater retention is needed to sustain our current nursing workforce and integrate new nurses effectively. We cannot recruit our way out of this crisis as nursing shortages are now a global issue,” concludes CNA CEO Valerie Grdisa.
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About the Canadian Nurses Association
CNA is the national and global professional voice of Canadian nursing. Our mission is to advance the nursing profession to improve health outcomes in Canada’s publicly funded, not-for-profit health system. CNA is the only national association that speaks for all nurses in all sectors and practice settings across all 13 provinces and territories. We represent unionized and non-unionized nurses, retired nurses, nursing students, and all categories of nurses (licensed and registered practical nurses, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and registered psychiatric nurses).
For more information, please contact:
Amber Morley
Media and Communications Coordinator
Cell: 613-282-7859
Email: amorley@cna-aiic.ca
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