May 10, 1999
(Health and Community Services)

The following statement was issued today by Joan Marie Aylward, Minister of Health and Community Services. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

At a time when we are facing nursing shortages across this country and while we are working to increase the number of nurses in this province, I stand today to provide statistics released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the Canadian Nurses Association, and Statistics Canada.

Between 1993 and 1998, Newfoundland and Labrador experienced the greatest increase in the number of registered nurses employed in nursing while Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba showed a decline.

All provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador saw a decrease in the number of registered nurses employed in nursing per 100,000 population between 1993 and 1998. This was particularly true for Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

The increase in registered nurses employed in nursing in Newfoundland and Labrador from 1993 to 1998 led the country while six provinces saw a decline in that number and throughout Canada there was a decrease of 3.4 per cent. The number of nurses employed in nursing by 100,000 population from 1993 to 1998 increased in this province from 891.4 to 986.3. In all other provinces there were decreases and throughout Canada, there was an average decrease from 816.3 to 748.4. We have now improved our ranking to number two in the country.

These statistics have been gathered by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the Canadian Nurses Association and Statistics Canada. While we will continue to recruit and retain nurses to the best of our ability, it is encouraging to see that these statistics show we are leading other provinces in employing registered nurses.

In the last number of weeks, we have announced the addition of 125 new nursing positions and the conversion of 200 casual nurses to permanent status. More recently, we have informed all the boards in our province that thay can convert more casual nursing positions to permanent status where appropriate and we will adjust their budgets accordingly. The boards have identified another 340 potential conversions. This means that the vast majority of casual nurses who want a permanent position will have that opportunity.

There are casual nurses who prefer to remain casual because of the flexibility in their personal life and some who prefer the recently increased pay in lieu of benefits from 14 per cent to 20 per cent. Boards also need a pool of casual nurses to have the flexibility to provide a continuity of service. We remain hopeful that boards will be able to negotiate a speedy process with the NLNU locals to allow the permanent positions to be filled as quickly as possible.

Last week we allocated $4 million to the boards to provide additional support services which will lessen the current workload of nurses and allow them to concentrate more on nursing duties. These services include the hiring of more porters, medical service aids, cleaning staff, and LPN's and should alleviate some of the workload that nurses have identified as work they should not have to do.

We are aware of the changing demographic in the nursing profession and we are working to address short term and long term needs. The department has been actively engaged in a number of human resource planning activities in the past year. Provincial meetings were held last week with several boards to assess the impact of nurse practitioners on servicing rural areas of the province. Feedback from the public and colleagues has been very positive. Thirteen further nurse practitioners will be completing their program in the fall and returning primarily to rural areas.

Discussions are actively being held with the Schools of Nursing in the province to increase enrollment. A proposal has been submitted by the schools and is currently being examined by the department.

Discussions have also occurred with the Centre for Health Information as well as Atlantic counterparts related to the information and database development needs to support human resource planning.

The department recognizes that both short term and long term planning is needed. Recent short term activities will link with long term directions which will be overseen by a Provincial Human Resource Planning Committee. Extensive dialogue with several employers, professional groups, and education representatives have occurred in the preceding months. We will continue to work to recruit and retain nurses in this province within our fiscal capacity and by addressing workload and lifestyle issues.

I table a news release and a copy of the statistical information released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information as supplementary information for all members.

Health care across the country continues to face challenges. This government recognizes health care as a priority, and is committed to addressing these challenges within our fiscal capacity.

1999 05 10 5:30 p.m.