A provincial government plan to put internationally educated nurses to work to address urgent staffing shortages in hospitals doesn’t sit well with the college and Manitoba Registered Nurses’ Union, who say it could take years to put these nurses to work.
Health Minister Audrey Gordon said on Wednesday that there are more than 90 internationally trained nurses who have gone through the licensing process who could start working within days, and that approximately 1,360 internationally educated nurses have met the basic eligibility criteria to work in Manitoba. .
“And as we know, critical care beds are the most staff-intensive beds in our healthcare system, so if we’re able to get those nurses into the system, we’re opening up more beds,” a- she said at a press conference, after being rushed. how it will increase the capacity of Manitoba’s intensive care units.
But the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba says it has no idea where Gordon got those numbers.
To their knowledge, there are only seven applicants who meet provincial requirements and 48 applicants currently in various stages of enrollment, college spokesman Martin Lussier said.
In response, a spokesperson for the province said the figure of 1,360 is based on the number of applications received through its online admissions portal.
Lussier says the college has repeatedly requested meetings with Gordon and/or Premier Heather Stefanson to discuss the registration process for internationally educated nurses, but has not had the opportunity to meet them either.
“In that vein, we have little to no knowledge of the characteristics or criteria the province uses to determine ‘eligibility,'” beyond the questions on the online form, Lussier said in an email.
“This form does not ask for much information that would be required to determine an internationally educated nurse’s eligibility for registration as a registered nurse in Manitoba (or any other Canadian jurisdiction).”
Lussier said the figure also likely includes potential applicants for licensed practical nursing.
Not a short-term solution, according to the union
Meanwhile, the executive director of the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Manitoba said he is committed to supporting applicants through the process.
“We recognize the need to continue to find new and innovative solutions to expand Manitoba’s health care workforce during this critical time, and we remain committed to continuing our work in collaboration with government, Shared Health and other stakeholders, to find ways to expedite check-in without compromising security,” said Jennifer Breton.
Either way, the president of the Manitoba Nurses Union says the province shouldn’t be touting this as a solution to the current strain on the health care system because it will take years to get these nurses back to work .
“It’s not a short-term fix, it’s a long-term fix. We’re not onboarding these nurses into the system in two weeks,” she said.
“I mean I’m talking to successful nurses who come here as IENs (overseas-educated nurses) and have been successful, and I’m talking about two to three years for those nurses to come into our system, recorded and work as a bedside nurse.”
Jackson says the province should have started working on this years ago and right now it should be focused on retaining the nurses it has.
As of October 2021, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority was short by 1,331 nurses, a vacancy rate of 17.3%.
“Travel aficionado. Twitter scholar. Writer. Extreme coffee guru. Evil pop culture fanatic.”