Nurses rally in front of Sask. legislative building [Video]

Hundreds of Saskatchewan nurses and their supporters rallied outside the legislative building on Thursday calling for action to ongoing staffing shortages and hospital overcrowding around the province.

According to a September survey referenced by the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN), 86 per cent of registered nurses are reporting patient risk due to staff shortages. The survey also found that 60 per cent of registered nurses have considered leaving the profession in the last 12 months.

(JasonDelesoy/CTVNews)

“It’s a perfect storm for a catastrophe in the making,” SUN president Tracy Zambory said in a news release. “I hear from SUN members lamenting their career choice almost daily, describing their severe moral distress from being unable to provide the safe care patients need or saying they’ve never wanted to leave the profession more.”

According to Zambory, Saskatchewan is short about 700 full-time registered nurses. 

The union has called for greater frontline engagement aimed …