Members of the B.C. Nurses' Union are at the B.C. Seniors Games in Burnaby this week, giving tips to seniors on how to improve their health and B.C.'s public healthcare services.
The nurses will be providing blood pressure checks and urging support for their safe care campaign during the annual event that draws more than 3,000 people from across the province.
"Nurses are reaching out to the thousands of athletes and volunteers at these games because we want them to be aware of what they can do to support quality care in B.C.," said Debbie Picco, union regional co-chair for the Simon Fraser region, in a recent release. "We also know this is a great opportunity for our members to provide a valuable volunteer service to our community through the blood pressure checks and interaction with our members."
The union is calling on the government to improve safe care for seniors; including standards for staffing in residential care facilities that would be monitored and enforced, increased direct care for seniors, improved community supports to help keep seniors in their own homes, and the creation of a seniors advocate.
The provincial Ombudsperson's report on seniors care released in February laid out these recommendations.
"So far, the government's efforts have been weak and ineffectual on all fronts," said union president Debra McPherson, in the release. "The government's followup action plan to the report made no mention of staffing levels or enforcement. Previous cuts to home services like housekeeping and grocery shopping have been removed from publicly funded agencies and are being pushed to volunteers and for private for-profit providers."
McPherson said the provincial government's projected hair budget for healthcare spending in the next two years is not enough to keep up with population growth and inflation, and will not be sufficient for the union's recommended upgrades to seniors' care.
