Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union report says NSHA needs to educate public on emergency health system
A new report from the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union is recommending that the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) improve public knowledge about emergency services.
According to the 130-page document, the NSHA needs to “redouble its efforts to educate the public on when to use the emergency health system.”
The report mainly outlines that “nurses are well positioned to address” the health-care challenges that it says are facing the province, including a shortage of doctors.
Watch: Pregnant women sound alarm about Nova Scotia’s doctor shortage
As of April 1, the provincial health authority has reported that 51,802 Nova Scotians are waiting to be connected with a regular care provider, while statistics from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) found that 16.2 per cent of Nova Scotian adults who already have a regular care provider waited longer than eight days to get an appointment.
The CIHI also found that 40.5 per cent of adults living in the province found it “very difficult” to get an appointment on weekends, evenings and holidays.
The report outlines 36 recommendations for “optimizing nursing and primary health care” in Nova Scotia.
More to come.
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