Nursing a 'very significant priority' for head of health-care recruitment in N.S.
CBC
The CEO of Nova Scotia's new Office of Health Care Professionals Recruitment said nursing vacancies are one of his top priorities as he settles into the role.
Dr. Kevin Orrell said despite working in the sector for decades, recent meetings with health-care workers about the current working conditions have been enlightening.
"I think the surprise was how emotional the workers themselves feel about trying to do their best in a system that doesn't help them," said Orrell, who travelled with Premier Tim Houston and Health Minister Michelle Thompson as part of their roundtable discussions last month.
Numbers released by Orrell's office show registered nurses account for half of the open vacancies in Nova Scotia, with 1,086 openings.
There are openings for a further 309 positions between licensed practical nurses, nurse practitioners and nursing positions at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax.
Orrell said the number of openings is staggering, and at a critical level.
"I think nursing is a very, very significant priority. I think the situation with nurses that have entered the system and have been disillusioned enough to say they have to leave earlier in their career than people that had worked as nurses in the past, I think that's a sad event," he said.