Nurse retention a looming issue

Nova Scotia’s nursing shortage is significant threat to health-care in the province, says union.

Nursing student Brittany Belair plans to leave Nova Scotia to work in the United States.

The provincial government needs to work harder to keep nurses in Nova Scotia, Dalhousie University students say.

Brittany Belair and Julia Dean are fourth-year undergraduate students at Dalhousie's School of Nursing. They say many students in their program plan to look for work as registered nurses outside the province after graduation in May.

More than 100 students will graduate from the program this year, says Lucille Wittstock, former associate director of undergraduate affairs for the school.

Dean wants to stay in Nova Scotia, but Belair plans to look for work in the United States next year, where she says there are more opportunities.

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Nursing student Julia Dean wants to stay in Nova Scotia to work.

"You can get a job here, but not necessarily in the area you want," she said.

Many American employers also offer large signing bonuses as well as cover moving expenses and accommodations, Belair adds.

"They just offer you so much more, so that's why people are leaving," she said. "Here, (nurses) aren't necessarily treated as well."

Janet Hazelton, president of the Nova Scotia Nurses Union, says the province retained 80 per cent of its graduates from university nursing programs in 2009.

"My concern is, we can't allow ourselves to fall behind," she said. "That will quickly change to 60 per cent if we don't remain competitive."

We can't afford to lose nurses

According to the College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia, there are about 9,300 registered nurses currently working in the province.

But there are more nurses needed nationwide. The Canadian Nurses Association's website reports the country was short 11,000 nurses in 2007 - and that number will increase to 66,000 by 2020.

Nova Scotia would still have a shortage of nurses even if every nurse who got a degree here was employed here, Hazelton says.

"We really can't afford to lose any nurses that we educate."

Darcel Lewis is a nurse recruiter for Halifax's Capital District Health Association. She says the provincial government and Capital Health both offer bursaries to nursing graduates to encourage them to work in Nova Scotia.

However, Hazelton says the government's $4,000 signing bonus isn't enough. She adds, New Brunswick offers nurses an $8,000 bonus.

Dean agrees the bursary doesn't put nurses in Nova Scotia on the same level as other provinces.

"Health care is a mess (here)," she said. "People are getting burnt out, so they're leaving."

Wages and benefits for nurses in Nova Scotia have dropped below those in New Brunswick and Newfoundland, Hazelton says.

"Our contract is up for negotiation and these are the kind of things we're going to have to...take a close look at."

The nurse shortage means nurses are overworked and have a high turnover rate, Belair adds.

"It affects the whole workplace," she said. "It causes family problems for some people."

LPN retirement to become an issue

Karen Sigouin, executive director of the Nova Scotia Community College Practical Nursing School, says the province will see the full effect of the shortage in about two years.

"We only have 3,500 (licensed practical nurses) in the province and there are 1,000 that are eligible to retire," she said. "We've done nothing to offset this potential retirement, so I think in 2012, we're going to be in a really bad spot."

But Sigouin says it's uncommon for NSCC nursing students to be lured to jobs in other provinces or the United States. "Seasoned LPNs" are more likely to go away - often when their spouse leaves the province for work, she adds.

Nurses leaving Nova Scotia to work in the United States is "always a worry," Lewis says.

Luckily, the local health district expects to attract some nursing grads from Alberta, where only 40 per cent are expected to get jobs this year, according to the Canadian Nurses Association.

"Anybody moving this way helps," Lewis said.

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