Rural Healthcare In
Saskatchewan
A System in Crisis
Crisis
Rural healthcare in Saskatchewan is in crisis, driven by a dire registered nursing shortage.
Emergency Room closures are the new normal for communities across the province, putting the health and safety of residents at risk
I think
Rural Health gets overlooked
a lot, which is unfortunate because we deserve the same standard of care as urban centres.
- Alyssa Registered Nurse
Every day, as many as 40 rural facilities are forced to offer limited healthcare services,
due to a lack of staff
RN's in rural healthcare are critical. They provide most of the hands-on care.
Physicians rely heavily on the nurses' expertise and knowledge.
There is no other practitioner that can step in.
- Dr. Glaske Rural Physician, SK
83% of Saskatchewan's registered nurses
report vacancies in their workplaces
- SUN member survey, March 2022
The nursing shortage has hit rural Saskatchewan extremely hard.
We need an ER open and equipped to deal with any potential injury. That is a worry that we all deal with every day.
- AubreyRegistered Nurse, Assiniboia
Learn about rural Healthcare
Issues
Many rural health facilities are so short-staffed that they're forced to close for the day if one registered nurse is too ill to come to work
There's a heavy emotional toll on nurses when there's a hospital closure.
This is the same hospital our own families, loved ones access, so it's a big deal. This isn't isolated, this is happening to communities all over.
- Kelly Registered Nurse
To see patients having to wait when they need care right away,
having to be turned away, is heartbreaking, and it's, it's due to our shortage of nurses.
- Alyssa W Registered Nurse
Rural health care facilities service industries important to Saskatchewan's economy, such as farming and oil and gas. Access to safe, timely care is critical to the growth and survival of these sectors, and to building vibrant rural communities, where families want to settle and grow.
It's important to have reliable healthcare in rural Saskatchewan
because it affects our quality of life. Cities don't face the same challenges we do. It's important to our thriving rural industries, like grain, energy, beef supply, and potash.
- Kelvin Saskatchewan Rancher
Learn about rural Healthcare
Challenges
Agriculture is one of Saskatchewan's largest and most hazardous industries according to the provincial government.
84% of registered nurses say short staffing has put their patients at risk
- SUN member survey, March 2022
If someone has been injured - a rotary blade accident with a tractor or a chemical exposure - you need care quickly.
If you can't get treatment right away, the effects could be deadly.
- Charlotte Registered Nurse
In the short-term, it's really scary if someone shows up at the hospital after an accident or heart attack and the doors are closed.
In the long-term, industries might not move their people here, farmers may retire somewhere else, and families aren't going to raise their children here.
- Shelia Town Councillor,
Rural Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan needs a Nursing Shortage Task Force that engages frontline nurses, leveraging their firsthand experiences and knowledge, to urgently examine solutions such as:
Funded recruitment and retention programs, supporting nurses currently in the system, helping willing retired nurses return, educating more nurses in Saskatchewan, and recognizing Nurse Practitioners are an answer to community-based, primary care.
Solutions
Funded recruitment and retention programs, supporting nurses currently in the system, helping willing retired nurses return, educating more nurses in Saskatchewan, and recognizing Nurse Practitioners are an answer to community-based, primary care.
Part of the solution to the nursing shortage would definitely be utilizing Nurse Practitioners in rural Saskatchewan.
We are trained in primary care, and have the scope of practice to provide medical treatments, interventions, diagnoses, and follow-up.
- Raegen NP - Assiniboia
For a hospital, especially a rural hospital,
the nursing staff is not only the backbone, they are the flesh and the blood, and a major part of the central nervous system.
- Dr.Glaske Rural Physician, SK
