NBHC Care Experience
October 19, 2017
A survey of nurses conducted by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) showed indicators of the strain Canada's aging population is placing on the country's healthcare system. Key findings from the survey include:
- Seventy-one percent of the home care nurses surveyed spent at least 50% of their weekly scheduled work hours providing direct care;
- Eighty-eight percent of home care nurses say where they work the clients' acuity has increased with in the past three years. Two thirds (63%) say it has increased "a lot";
- Seventy-four percent of home care nurses say the regular core healthcare staff isn't sufficient to meet clients' needs;
- Nearly 90% of home care nurses say their workload has increased over the past three years, with 60% saying it has "increased considerably";
- Home care clients require more attention today than only a few years ago, but the majority of nurses still have confidence in the overall quality of client care in their home care programs; and
- Where the quality of care has declined, an increase in the number of clients was the main reason cited for the decline in the quality of care (36%), with 11% indicating a shortage of nurses was implicated in the decline.