In Canada, more than 16 million nursing hours are lost to injury and illness annually. In fact, nurses have a substantially higher rate of absenteeism than the national average.

This enormous tally of lost hours due to illness and injury, much of which could be prevented, translates into almost 9,000 full-time nursing positions lost across Canada each year.

At a time when the health care system is overburdened from a chronic shortage of nursing staff, the further shortage caused by absenteeism and injury is a testament to the need for action to improve the work environment for nurses.