Province offers nurses signing bonus, extra pay to fill critical-care positions
CBC
The province has moved to urgently fill critical care nursing positions amid a predicted surge of COVID-19 cases, offering signing bonuses, extra wages and expenses to those who sign up to help out.
In a memo sent to New Brunswick's nurses, the Health Department said its critical care nurse deployment initiative is seeking to fill positions in intensive care units, critical care units and emergency departments throughout the province, as needed.
"It is fully expected that hospitalizations and a reduction in nursing resources caused by COVID infections will require deployment or repatriation of individuals who have valuable critical care experience," said the memo sent Saturday.
"Nurses ... who register for [the initiative] must be willing and able to travel to any health-care facility in the province to work in an ICU, CCU or emergency room department based on the operational needs of the regional health authorities."
The incentive program is specifically seeking retired critical care nurses; nurses with critical care experience who aren't currently employed with the regional health authorities; part-time nurses with critical care experience and full-time nurses with critical care experience in units that have seen a reduction in service or closure, the memo stated.
The initiative offers several financial and other incentives to those who are accepted into the program, including:
In an email to nurses, New Brunswick Nurses Union president Paula Doucet acknowledged the strain members are already facing, but encouraged eligible members to sign up if they are interested.
"NBNU understands that the nursing shortage and lack of human resources is frustrating in every unit," Doucet said.
However, she noted, the province is "trying to be ready to support vital critical care nursing services due to the increased cases of COVID-19 and the transmission of the Omicron variant."
On Tuesday, the province's chief epidemiologist warned New Brunswickers to brace for an "intense" few weeks as COVID-19 cases surge.
By the end of January or early February, about 5,500 New Brunswickers are expected to test positive for COVID-19 daily if current trends hold, Mathieu Chalifoux told a technical briefing.
Hospitalizations could reach nearly 220, Chalifoux said.
"We need to assume that everyone we come in contact with could have it," he said.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.