The province is pitching a fundamental change to nursing practice across Saskatchewan as part of its negotiations with the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) over a new collective bargaining agreement. The nurses union’s collective agreement expired on March 31, 2024. Recent contract negotiations have revealed the province’s proposal to have nurses working in multiple locations and multiple services, which could allow the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) to deploy a nurse to any given facility. “Any community, anywhere, anytime,” SUN president Bryce Boynton said. “Without any real reason and without any checks and balances.” Boynton says the “float” article in the collective agreement isn’t anything new to many nurses in Saskatchewan. Typically, nurses familiar with or trained in other units can be asked to float to another unit in an emergency circumstance, not for sick leave, vacation or staff shortages. This usually results in a nurse being asked to move down the hall or to another floor of the facility they work at. Recent proposals are looking to exclude that language from the contract. Boynton says that could mean a Saskatoon nurse could be sent to a facility in North Battleford they’re unfamiliar with. Or a nurse in Regina could be sent to cover a shift in Yorkton. “It’s critical and it has such huge implications, not just for the retention of nurses, but for patient safety,” he said. The Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations Inc. (SAHO) is the health sector employers’ bargaining agent, which negotiates all health care related labour contracts in Saskatchewan. An update of the negotiations on its website says its proposals “are not intended to move employees involuntarily or at-will across the province.” “Rather, the proposals will maintain, and in some instances, reduce the current distance registered nurses are required to travel,” SAHO’s bargaining update said. Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill says the province has to balance the needs of patients with the negotiations. “What it comes down to (is) putting patients first, making sure that everybody has access to the right care at the right place and as close to home as possible,” Cockrill said. Through these meetings, Boynton and the SUN negotiators have tried to learn if nurses with similar skillsets would move around, or if the province has geographic zones in mind. Counter offers to limit travel to boundaries on the SHA’s current map, kilometre limits and the former health region boundaries prior to the creation of the SHA in 2017. All offers were denied. Boynton says multiple verbal exchanges were given assuring nurses will travel down the street or within the same community, but they were not included in the contract proposal. “We’ve put forward solutions to give them what they need based on the examples they provided, but they continued to say no in the language,” Boynton said. Cockrill says the mobility of employees is an important issue, especially in rural settings. “It would be more efficient potentially to have, you know, different workers providing services in multiple communities,” he said. Boynton says this change would have deep implications for recruitment and retention of staff, which could impact all parts of the healthcare system. Many nurses won’t want to travel away from home for a variety of circumstances. After multiple years of short staffing and burnout, many could simply walk away from the career if this proposal was agreed to. “It’s not necessarily hundreds. It could be thousands. And we’re continuing to push these nurses to the edge,” Boynton said. Boynton says there are deeper issues within the healthcare system, and making every nurse a travel nurse won’t lead to better patient care if patients are waiting for someone to drive in from another community. “Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. That’s all we’re really doing. We’re not solving a problem,” Boynton said. Negotiations are scheduled to resume Tuesday. With the mobility proposal hanging over the other matters yet to be discussed, it could be many more sessions before an agreement is struck. “I’ve been clear right from the beginning; the best deal is going to come at the table,” Cockrill said. “That’s where we all need to stay focused.”
