National Nursing Week takes place from May 6 to 12 this year, and is held to help people remember the contributions to health and wellbeing that nurses make. In Saskatchewan alone, there are over 19,000 nurses working to help the people within the province. This week is chosen as International Nurses Day which takes place on May 12th, the birthday of Florence Nightingale.
The theme for National Nursing Week this year is “Changing Lives, Shaping Tomorrow”, which recognizes the contributions and impact nurses have on individuals, communities, and the future of health care.
Saskatchewan has seen an increase of approximately 6,500 practicing nurses since 2007, which is a 51.2 per cent increase. Currently there are 13,605 RNs, 4,310 LPNs, 811 RPNs and 360 NPs practicing within the province.
In September of 2022, the Government of Saskatchewan launched their Health Human Resources (HHR) Action Plan, and since then, nearly 1,100 nursing graduates have been hired, as well as more than 250 Filipino nurses have relocated, with more than 160 of them currently working in communities throughout the province.
There are plans in place to create 25 Nurse Practitioner positions under the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) over the next year to enhance and expand the use of NPs and enable health care teams to see more patients.
This past March, the Government of Saskatchewan announced that they would be testing out a new model for health clinics, which would be independently operated, publicly funded and staffed by nurse practitioners, operated within the SHA. One of these clinics is already operational within Warman (since August 2023), with another currently being constructed within Martensville.
Nurse practitioners have advanced training, which gives them the opportunity to provide a variety of health services to patients, including ordering lab work, performing exams, and diagnosing and treating health issues.
The purpose of these clinics is to help improve access to primary health-care services to Saskatchewan residents by expanding the role of NPs throughout the health-care system.
The 2024/25 Saskatchewan budget showed the largest-ever increase in health-care funding to help expand patient care and services to meet the increasing demands as the population continues to grow. This year’s Ministry of Health budget is $7.59 billion, which is an increase of $726.4 million over the previous year. The SHA will receive a budget of $4.68 billion, seeing an increase of $248.3 million.
