Nurses have tended to provide some of the most guarded appraisals of health care in the annual Health Care in Canada surveys conducted between 1998 and 2007.

In 1999, just 63 per cent of nurses surveyed said Canadians receive quality care. This dipped to a low of 52 per cent in 2000 before recovering to 66 per cent in 2006 and 2007. Still, they were decidedly more negative than managers (91 per cent), pharmacists (76 per cent) and physicians (72 per cent).

In the last Health Care in Canada (HCiC) survey in 2007, fully 69 per cent of nurses said the health system was in need of major repairs or complete rebuilding – more than any other group. The lack of staff and work overload remained the top health-care issue for nurses over the course of HCiC surveys conducted between 1999 and 2007.

For the general public, wait times soared to the number one issue by the time the last survey was conducted in 2007, and despite the fact that the 2004 health accord between the federal, provincial and territorial governments dedicated massive funds to bring this issue under control.

The public has displayed consistent support for various ideas to improve the health system. Between 2005 and 2007, well over 80 per cent of Canadians were in favour of developing more home and community care programs and over 60 per cent supported the use of non-physician health providers in patient care and agreed that electronic health records would be beneficial.

The complete Health Care in Canada (HCiC) can be accessed at www.hcic-sssc.ca/english/Home.aspxs.

The surveys were conducted between 1998 and 2007 by Pollara Research under the sponsorship of the Association of Canadian Academic Healthcare Organizations, Canadian Healthcare Association, Canadian Home Care Association, Canadian Medical Association, Canadian Nurses Association, CareNet Corporation, Health Charities Coalition of Canada and Merck. HE