{"id":225676,"date":"2019-08-04T05:59:40","date_gmt":"2019-08-04T09:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=225676"},"modified":"2019-08-04T05:59:40","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T09:59:40","slug":"new-brunswick-nursing-strategy-prescribes-immigrant-rns-for-growing-labour-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/08\/04\/new-brunswick-nursing-strategy-prescribes-immigrant-rns-for-growing-labour-shortage\/","title":{"rendered":"New Brunswick nursing strategy prescribes immigrant RNs for growing labour shortage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The province\u2019s nurses are not exempt from this trend \u2014 41 per cent of registered nurses (RNs) in New Brunswick are 50 years of age or older, the report says. (Shutterstock Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Internationally trained nurses will be required to address a looming shortage in New Brunswick\u2019s health-care system, a new government report says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The recruitment of internationally educated nurses (IENs) is one of four so-called \u201caction items\u201d that the province\u2019s Nursing Resource Strategy says are needed to meet the accelerating\u00a0demand for health services and long-term care among New Brunswickers.<\/p>\n

The document notes that the province\u2019s population is ageing faster than any other jurisdiction in Canada, prompting what it calls a \u201ccritical demographic situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Brunswick has one of Canada\u2019s oldest populations and is ageing at a greater rate than other jurisdictions,\u201d it notes. \u201cNew Brunswick has the highest percentage of population over 65 years of age when compared to the rest of Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

The province\u2019s nurses are not exempt from this trend \u2014 41 per cent of registered nurses (RNs) in New Brunswick are 50 years of age or older, the report says.<\/p>\n

Combined with declining enrolment in the province\u2019s bachelor of nursing programs and an attrition rate of 30 per cent for nursing students, the province\u2019s ministry of health projects a shortage of at least 130 registered nurses (RNs) each year over the next 10 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis means that by 2028 there could be a deficit of approximately 1,300 RNs in the New Brunswick health-care system,\u201d the document notes.<\/p>\n

During this same period, it is estimated that 4,376 RN jobs will open.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe province finds itself at a crossroads where the number of nurses in the workforce is decreasing and the demand for their services keeps increasing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Internationally educated nurses to the rescue<\/h3>\n

Among the four key remedies identified is the active recruitment of IENs from countries identified as having \u201cnursing education programs with similar nursing professional standards, competencies, and credentials\u201d to New Brunswick.<\/p>\n

Doing so, the document says, will increase the odds of immigrant nurses meeting the province\u2019s registration requirements.<\/p>\n

As to these requirements, the government calls for an examination \u201cto identify any barriers, areas for improvement or efficiencies\u201d for IENs and to improve the application process.<\/p>\n

The strategy also recommends the establishment of a program that would help IENs find work in New Brunswick\u2019s health-care sector while their applications for registration are in progress \u201cto allow for a positive integration into the workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the strategy\u2019s other action items are a process for offering permanent employment (full-time and part-time) to New Brunswick graduates and RNs recruited from other provinces or countries and the possibility of a signing bonus in exchange for a three-year commitment to serve in rural areas of the province.<\/p>\n

\u201cNurses play a significant role in the provision of high-quality care in an efficient, patient-centric health-care system,\u201d New Brunswick\u2019s Health Minister, Hugh J. Flemming, said in a statement. \u201cWe are going to continue to face a shortage of nurses unless we take action now to ensure we have enough nurses to serve our population.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Nurses Association of New Brunswick supports any effort to address the nursing shortage and will continue to participate on the nursing resource strategy, as we anticipate immediate action to further implement the plan,\u201d added association president Maureen Wallace.<\/p>\n

New Brunswick\u2019s Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister, Trevor Holder, said a number of the strategy\u2019s action items \u201care already underway.\u201d<\/p>\n

No details were mentioned as to how IENs may be selected or what immigration programs would be used to recruit them.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program (NBPNP)\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0that it will conduct occasional searches of the\u00a0federal Express Entry pool<\/a>\u00a0for skilled candidates who meet the province\u2019s labour.<\/p>\n

These searches will be conducted through the NBPNP\u2019s Express Entry-linked\u00a0New Brunswick Labour Market Stream<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Internationally trained nurses will be required to address a looming shortage in New Brunswick\u2019s health-care system, a new government report …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":128304,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-immigration","mauthors-stephen-smith","mauthors-cic-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225676"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225677,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225676\/revisions\/225677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}