Why hasn’t the nursing crisis improved since a 2008 story on Canada's shortage?

In 2008, the Toronto Star highlighted Canada's nursing shortage. Six years on, the crisis remains worse than ever.  The headline gets straight to the point: “Nursing crisis worse than ever.”

The first four sentences lay out the problem: “It’s a damning, disastrous cycle: Not enough nurses to fill shifts. Rushed and harried staff who must scramble to provide proper care for patients. Young nurses scared off by poor working conditions, just when they are desperately needed to fill vacancies. Mid-career nurses who burn out and flee the profession, creating even more empty spaces.”
The story makes a case that change is needed — and quickly — to improve working conditions for nurses, a move that would also help patients receive better care.
Six years later, the 1,000-word article — part of a 2008 Toronto Star series examining the impact of Roy Romanow's royal commission on health care — reads as though it was written today.
This according to Ann Tourangeau, associate dean of academic programs at the University of Toronto’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing.
And to the thousands of nurses who recently have read and shared the story online.
Early in April, the 2008 article suddenly resurfaced, quickly becoming one of the most-read stories on thestar.com.