The Provincial Government and the College of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador today announced a number of collaborative initiatives in an effort to expand the scope of practice for nurses, and also make it easier for Canadian and international registered nurses to become licensed in the province.

Some of the initiatives include:

• Exploration of amendments to the Registered Nurses Regulations which will permit prescribing by Registered Nurses in accordance with a framework that would be provided by the College;
• Potential amendments to the Registered Nurses Act, 2008 and/or the Registered Nurses Regulations in order to facilitate licensure of nurses currently practising in another province or territory to enable multijurisdictional licensure; and,
• Streamlining of processes such as education reviews and English language requirements.

These initiatives are in addition to a recent collaboration between government, the College and Regional Health Authorities to address waitlist issues with the Internationally Educated Nurses bridging program. A special cohort launched in 2021, and 23 individuals are expected to finish the program in November of this year.

The recruitment and retention of health care professionals has been – and continues to be – a challenge, not just in Newfoundland and Labrador, but indeed globally. Health Accord NL was created in November 2020 to reimagine the health care system to best deliver services to people in communities across the province. It was mandated to deliver a 10-year Health Accord with short, medium, and long-term goals for a health care system that better meets the current needs of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. A number of the initiatives are already underway, with additional recommendations announced as part of Budget 2022. Details on these initiatives can be found in the backgrounder below.

Recognizing the difficulties the province is faced with in terms of attracting and retaining these professionals, government also established the Provincial Health Professional Recruitment and Retention Office, housed within the Department of Health and Community Services. The office is focused solely on building a world-class recruitment and retention program for health professionals with the appropriate skill sets and a desire to work in the province.

Quotes
“We acknowledge the recruitment and retention challenges facing our health care sector, and that is why it is so important for us to have collaborative relationships with our stakeholders, such as the College of Registered Nurses. While these issues are being experienced globally, we are working toward local solutions, including trying to reach health care professionals nationally and internationally who feel that this province would be a wonderful place for them to live and work. Creative solutions like these ones are key to our success.”
Honourable Tom Osborne
Minister of Health and Community Services

“The College of Registered Nurses embraces new and innovative approaches to all aspects of our operations. We are pleased to work in collaboration with the Provincial Government on several initiatives that will aim to reduce barriers and improve processes. As the largest health care regulator in Newfoundland and Labrador, we will work hard to ensure we embrace change whilst never compromising the professional standards that the people of our province depend on.”
Lynn Power
Executive Director, College of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador

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Media contacts
Laura Thomas
Health and Community Services
709-729-6554, 727-0341
laurathomas@gov.nl.ca

James Sheppard
Manager of Public Affairs
College of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador
709-753-6198
jsheppard@crnnl.ca

BACKGROUNDER

Recent Measures to Address the Shortage of Health Care Professionals

• A one-year pilot program to help entice retired family physicians to come back to the workforce.
• Committed to a suite of measures to expand the supply of health care professionals: creation of new collaborative community team clinics; increase in virtual care services to assist with the provision of urgent care; commitment to further increase the number of graduates from Licensed Practical Nursing Programs by 40 per cent, and Personal Care Attendant Programs by 20 per cent.
• Two new programs launched to support family doctors in the province and help improve access to primary health care:
  • The New Family Physician Income Guarantee initiative guarantees a minimum income equivalent to that of a salaried family physician to new family doctors who bill on a fee for service basis and open a family practice clinic – or join an established clinic – for the first two years of their practice. This will ease some of the uncertainty associated with the business aspects of opening a clinic by increasing financial certainty. Funding recipients will be required to enter into a two-year return-in-service agreement with government.
  • The Family Practice Start-Up Program will provide $150,000 to new family practice physicians who open a family practice clinic, or join an existing family practice in the community, and stay in the practice for five years. Recipients who are approved for both programs must sign a five-year return-in-service agreement with government. Additionally, both programs will be linked to establishing a patient roster in the community, as well as the provision of after-hours care.  This is the highest incentive offered to family physicians at this time in Atlantic Canada.
• Initiatives announced in March 2022 to address the challenges facing nurses in the province, including the nursing think tank; Requests for proposals for core staffing review, health human resource plan, workforce research; and an Internationally Educated Nurses Bursary.
• A new Assistant Deputy Minister for the recruitment and retention office has been hired and the office has been established within the Department of Health and Community Services.
• An additional five undergraduate seats have been added to the Memorial University’s medical School for Newfoundland and Labrador students.
• Launched the Extraordinary Every Day, a health care campaign aimed at recruiting and retaining health care professionals.
• Staffing in the regional health authorities has been enhanced to further support recruitment and retention efforts.
• A number of financial incentives and employee supports have been implemented to help address the immediate nursing workforce challenges and help stabilize the workforce.
• Compensation rates for covering emergency rooms in smaller rural health centres (category B facilities) have been increased as a temporary measure until October 31, 2022 to help retain existing physicians at these sites, as well as attract other locum physicians during periods of vacancy. As well, in Labrador, Category A rates were increased in the last MOA.
• $30,000 to Eastern Health to support students in the Radiation Therapy Program for each of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years. This will double Eastern Health’s capacity to support students in the program.