Nurses worry about shifts going unfilled as province cuts private agency options
The union representing Manitoba’s nurses is concerned a reduction in the number of nursing agencies the province works with could exacerbate staffing shortages during the transition period.
While supportive of the change that takes effect Thursday, Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said some hospitals that have relied on agency nurses are having trouble filling shifts, as the province ends its relationship with dozens of private agencies.
“We are hearing from nurses throughout the province that there are shifts that are unfilled, and there are some concerns from nurses out there on who’s going to fill these shifts,” Jackson said Wednesday.
Manitoba’s health minister announced last week that starting Jan. 15, the province will only work with four private nursing agencies, as opposed to the nearly 80 it used before the change.
That change already appears to be posing problems for some rural hospitals, Jackson said.
“We know specifically Dauphin has an issue. Pine Falls has an issue.”
Nurses will also now only be permitted to work for one agency at a time, meaning they may be prevented from working in certain regions.
That’s because each regional health authority will only be able to use three of the four remaining agencies when trying to fill vacancies. Which agencies can be used differs by region.
The province hopes agency nurses will move to one of the four chosen agencies or take a permanent job in the public system, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara has previously said.
Former nurse Katrina Koop isn’t confident that will happen, and wonders how the province will keep facilities staffed.
“It’s just all this red tape that’s just going to decrease the nursing pool, because there’s not as many opportunities to work now, and you have to stick within these strict guidelines,” she said.
Koop didn’t renew her registered nurse licence after working for over a decade, both directly for a hospital and for private agencies, including one she ran herself.
Health authorities adjusting to changes
CBC News reached out to five regional health authorities in the province, including Prairie Mountain Health, which oversees Dauphin Regional Health Centre, and the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority, which is in charge of the Pine Falls Health Complex.
Prairie Mountain CEO Treena Slate said the western region continues to experience nursing vacancies at a number of sites.
While it’s been working to reduce its reliance on agency nurses, Slate said the health authority is now transitioning to work with a smaller group of approved agency partners and is recruiting to fill vacancies, which she said will reduce the need for agency staff.
An Interlake-Eastern spokesperson said its staffing is “unique and often dynamic,” and thanked staff from the region, the provincial travel nurse team — a public system float pool that is the government’s answer to private nursing agencies — and agency nurses for their efforts.
A spokesperson for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, meanwhile, said it’s adjusting to the change and is monitoring staffing levels closely, but doesn’t expect significant impacts, as it’s reduced its reliance on agency nursing over several years.
A Northern Health Region spokesperson said nursing agencies have been part of its staffing approach for years, but the region is now transitioning to using a smaller group of approved agency partners.
Southern Health said in an email that it has used agency nursing to help with staffing and is adjusting its approach as it “moves to a smaller group of approved agency partners.”
However it said nursing vacancies “remain a reality” and can create pressure on staffing.
Travel nurse program key element: province
In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the health minister said nursing vacancies “persisted across the system,” even with the widespread use of nursing agencies.
The province will work closely with health authorities during the transition, Asagwara’s spokesperson said, and the government has been boosting the public workforce to reduce Manitoba’s reliance on short-term agency contracts.
The spokesperson said while it’s not intended to replicate the scale of private agencies, a key element is the provincial travel nurse program — a team of nurses available to work in health facilities across the province with high-priority staffing needs.
As of Dec. 31, that team had 555 nurses, up from 280 nurses a year ago, the minister’s office said.
Many of those nurses transitioned from agency work, and “a growing number are choosing permanent roles in public facilities,” suggesting “increased confidence in the stability, predictability, and support” the public health-care system offers, according to Asagwara’s spokesperson.
Jackson acknowledged the team is growing, but not as fast as the union would like to see.
The union warned the province “well over a year ago” of staffing challenges as a result of the transition away from agency nurses “if the provincial travel nurse team was not resourced adequately,” said Jackson.
She suggests the team needs 700 to 800 nurses to help with the transition.
“We are supportive of having … money from private, for-profit agencies poured back into the public health-care system,” Jackson said.
“But clearly our support also includes being ready for the change … and not leaving nurses in the lurch, wondering, ‘Who’s going to work with me tomorrow?'”
Manitoba has reduced the almost 80 private nursing agencies it has used to help fill vacant shifts to just four. The Manitoba Nurses Union supports this change but worries the province wasn’t adequately prepared for the Jan. 15 transition.
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