There are more nurses at the bedside in Manitoba providing families with quality health care, Health Minister Erin Selby announced during National Nursing Week.
“The care, compassion and commitment of our nurses who provide high-quality health care for families is something we all respect and value,” said Minister Selby. “We know you can’t deliver health services without nurses, and we will continue to hire and train more nurses to strengthen health services in Manitoba.”
Newly released statistics from Manitoba’s independent nursing colleges show the number of nurses working in Manitoba continues to grow, reaching an all time high of 17,795, a net gain of 3,702 since 1999, with an increase of 143 in the past year.
The gains are attributed to expanding nurse training opportunities throughout the province, and ongoing recruitment and retention initiatives, such as the Nurses Recruitment and Retention Fund (NRRF) established in 1999 to attract nurses to work in Manitoba, Minister Selby said.
As of Dec. 31, 2013, the NRRF has provided relocation cost assistance to 1,997 nurses who have moved to Manitoba from out-of-province. This includes 745 nurses who relocated to rural and northern Manitoba, and 393 nurses from the Philippines.
“I’ve been a nurse for 21 years and I couldn’t imagine a more challenging or rewarding career,” said Tracy Bassa, a nurse at Bethesda Hospital in Steinbach. “Patients and families put their faith in us every day and I am so inspired, day in and day out, with how my colleagues rise to the challenge. We need to continue to hire more nurses so we can continue to provide Manitobans with the excellent care they deserve.”
“For me, as a third-year nursing student, it is encouraging to see how the number of nurses employed in Manitoba continues to grow year after year,” said Liliane Allegro, nursing student at the University of Manitoba. “Studying to be a nurse is demanding, but it is certainly worth the efforts knowing that I’ll soon be contributing to making our health-care system even better for families.”
Last month the Manitoba Nurses Union signed a new contract. The four-year agreement, supported by 91 per cent of MNU members, contains wage increases and measures to support patient care and workload.
“I’m pleased to see our nursing workforce in Manitoba continue to grow,” said Sandi Mowat, president, MNU. “MNU and the Manitoba government are working in partnership on a number of issues, such as reducing the health-care system’s reliance on nurses working overtime and the use of agency nurses, all in an effort to improve patient care and ensure healthier workplaces for nurses.”
In 2011, there was a commitment to hire 2,000 new nurses, Minister Selby said. As of 2013, data from the nursing colleges’ show 1,907 out of the 2,000 nurses are in practice including replacement of an estimated 1,230 nurses who retired and a net gain of 677 more nurses.
