By Mario deSantis, January 27, 2000

I am extremely disappointed about the regressive conservative leadership of our political and economic environment. We have entered the New Economy(1) so rich of rewarding opportunities, yet we have leaders who always think in terms of saving money and in terms of finding solutions to our problems. And as these leaders implement policies for saving money and for solving problems(2), we create more problems which in turn trigger more policies for saving money and for solving problems(3). And as this vicious circle repeats itself over time, our privileged leaders become more authoritarian and intolerant of other people's needs. And this is the specific case for our authoritarian leaders in health care. Saskatchewan nurses, along with the medical profession, have been excluded from participating in health reform, and as a consequence the current nursing shortage has been the managerial result of the economic downsizing masterminded by our politicians and bureaucrats(4).

Today, there is a shortage of nurses, and because there is a shortage of nurses, there is a shortage of beds, and because there is a shortage of beds our patients are put at risk, and because our patients are put at risk they die(5). Our Minister of Health Pat Atkinson wants to rescue health care; she claims to speak on behalf of nursing students(6) and these students revolt against her(7); she wants to make changes to the educational program for nurses and she doesn't partner either with the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association, the professional body for nurses, or the faculty of the nursing program.

It has taken a student revolt for Pat Atkinson to reverse her plan to produce more nurses per year, as if nurses are produced through an assembly line, that is mass produced in accordance to the health care demand of the day. Where is your genuine interest in health care, and the welfare of our patients, and the welfare of our nurses, Honourable Pat Atkinson? We have reached the point where we have no vision for health care(8) and where we don't trust our leaders anymore; and because of this state of confusion and mistrust, the nursing students had to ask in their meeting with Pat Atkinson that she put in writing their right to continue with their scheduled four year degree program(9).

Today, our mistrust for our leaders has touched the heart of our young students, our word doesn't count anymore, what counts is the written word--just or not just--sanctioned either by the bureaucratic authorities, or the Legislative Assembly(10) or the Minister of Health. The written word--just or not just--has become Premier Romanow's Rule of Law(11).

Endnotes

1. New Rules for the New Economy: twelve dependable principles for thriving in a turbulent world, by Kevin Kelly, Wired Magazine, Issue 5.09 - September 1997 http://www.it-consultancy.com/background/newrules.html

2. Our leaders can't recognize an asset from a hole in the ground, by Mario deSantis, December 2, 1999

3. The closure of the Plains Health Centre: The $50 million overrun and the gimmick of saving money in health care, by Mario deSantis, December 19, 1999

4. Saskatchewan Nursing Shortage: Shifting the blame for our own Incompetence, by Mario deSantis, November 27, 1999

5. Pat Atkinson: blaming the doctors for the deaths of patients, by Mario deSantis, January 17, 2000

6. Health Minister Pat Atkinson & Saskatchewan Nurses: Out of Touch, Out of Law, by Mario deSantis, January 24, 2000

7. Nursing students demonstrate for 4-year degrees, CBC Saskatchewan, Web Posted | Jan 25 2000 8:15 AM EST http://sask.cbc.ca/ An excerpt of this documentation "...There will be more demonstrations by unhappy nursing students in Saskatchewan on Tuesday. A rally is planned at the Legislature in Regina, hard on the heels of a similar demonstration that was held Monday in Saskatoon, at the offices of the Health Minister, Pat Atkinson..."

8. NEED OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGES IN SASKATCHEWAN: Healthcare Reform and New Economic Policies, Part 2. What happened to the Saskatchewan Vision for Health?, by Mario deSantis, October 22, 1998

9. Compromise reached on nursing education, CBC Saskatchewan, Web Posted | Jan 25 2000 7:51 PM EST http://sask.cbc.ca/ An Excerpt of this documentation "..."...Well, at this point we've been guaranteed that those of us in the program can get our degree... We have asked for that in writing and we've been assured that we will get that...

10. SUN's Strike and Premier Romanow's Paper Legislation, by Mario deSantis, April 22, 1999

11. Premier Romanow: Reinventing The Rule Of Law And Becoming Above The Law, by Mario deSantis, September 2, 1999 http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/desam/paper-ReinvenLaw-Sept02-99.htm