in 2022 — the highest death toll in over five years.
Nova Scotia is facing a critical shortage of health-care workers resulting in current health-care workers having an increased workload and working unreasonable hours. The working conditions deter qualified workers and result in workers leaving health care altogether.This situation is not unique to Nova Scotia, it is happening across Canada.
Although hiring more staff would improve shortages, it wouldn’t change the fact that the health-care conditions are not good enough to reflect the needs of the health-care workers and communities. Some of the top recommendations for both provincial and federal governments should prioritize hiring more health-care workers and simultaneously supporting them, and improving working conditions.