Right now, according to the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union, residents in long-term care facilities are only receiving 3.45 hours of care throughout a 24-hour period.
Workers say it’s simply not enough to provide proper care to all residents.
“When we’re full staffed we’re not full staffed, we need these resources. It’s time for reform,” says Glenda Sabine, the VP for long-term care on the NSNU board of directors.
Sabine works the night shift at a long-term care facility with over 100 residents and says staff are burning out.
“It’s hard, because you know you’re trying to do your best but it’s not enough,” she said.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Nova Scotia, long-term care facilities were hit hardest, mainly Northwood in Halifax. A fifth of the province’s total cases were linked to that facility and 53 of the province’s 63 deaths were residents from Northwood.
The Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union says pandemic infections and deaths in the province’s nursing homes have been a “tragic reminder” of the province’s failure to bring in higher staffing levels it recommended four years ago.
The preface to a study paper released Friday argues the lack of nurses to assess residents and monitor those with severe dementia is “highly relevant” to the control of infectious disease.
“”When you’re doing infection control you’ve got to identify problems earlier, you need time for staff to be able cohort those residents give them special care, set up special bathrooms there’s a lot of time and effort that goes into that,” said Paul Curry, a research for the union.
“And if the staff are rushed trying to get that down, things are going to get missed. Things are going to slip through. ”
The union is now repeating recommendations from the union’s 2015-16 “Broken Homes” study, calling for an average of 4.1 hours of care per resident per day, including 1.3 hours of nursing care.
According to the union, that would mean about 20 per cent more staff, or 600 nurses and 1,400 continuing care assistants.
“There’s been no change in staffing levels in over 30 years however there’s been a huge shift in the care that is required for these seniors,” said union president Janet Hazleton.
When asked if funding for more staff is something the government would consider, the premier says when they looked at the issue back in 2015, it was not something they found was needed.
“We are looking at what transpired at Northwood, what changes are required, what protocols need to be put in place,” said Premier Stephen McNeil.
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