Manitoba takes steps to woo back ex-nurses

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This article was published 29/02/2024 (931 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — As Manitoba’s health minister implored retired and former nurses to return to the beleaguered health system, Uzoma Asagwara promised that joining the front lines will be less of a burden than when they left.

On Wednesday, the minister announced a suite of regulatory changes to make it easier for nurses who recently retired or quit practising to have their licences reinstated.

“We want you back. We want you back in health care,” Asagwara said at a news conference at the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba.

“It takes a very special person to pursue nursing as a profession and the caring and compassionate individuals that you are is valued by our government.”

The interim changes apply to former licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses who have worked in Manitoba in the past five years and were in good standing with their regulatory college.

All three colleges — the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Manitoba, the College of Psychiatric Nurses of Manitoba and the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba — reduced the number of recent practice hours required for reinstatement and will have more options to meet requirements for currency of practice. The changes take effect immediately.

Regulatory amendments that would make the changes permanent are expected to be in place this spring.

“What we’ve done here is provide nurses an opportunity to choose a pathway that works best for them that can help them scale up if that’s necessary and allow for them to join our health-care team in the ways they feel they can best contribute,” Asagwara said.

Deb Elias, registrar of the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba, said the changes serve and protect the public interest while maintaining a safe nursing practice in the province.

“We know that the current challenges and staffing nursing positions in the public system require an all-hands-on-deck approach,” Elias said.

It is not known how many retired and former registered nurses could qualify for reinstatement under the streamlined regulatory framework, she said.

The registrar was unable to say where the changes place Manitoba among the provinces when it comes to ease of reinstatement, but described Manitoba as comparable to other jurisdictions.

“There’s many nurses on the register who may or may not be employed in the system at this point, so it’s very difficult with the data that we have to get an exact number of how many former registered nurses could come back,” Elias explained.

Asagwara said the province will track the number of nurses who are reinstated under the new regulations.

While the relaxed regulations are expected to streamline reinstatements, Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said former nurses want to see systemic changes before returning to the bedside.

“Every nurse in this province who can work in nursing and chooses to do so should feel supported, valued and safe. I cannot emphasize this enough,” Jackson said. “Without these conditions in place, without strong leadership to uphold these workplace values, we will simply continue to lose ground and to lose nurses.”

Still, Jackson encouraged former and retired nurses to return to the profession, arguing the health system needs experienced, skilled nurses to mentor rookies.

“We have many, many new grads that are coming into our facilities and are feeling as if they are unsupported. They need that experience, they need those nurses there to support them,” Jackson said.

Asagwara said the culture shift promised by the NDP government is underway in the system even as nurses continue to raise alarms over severe staffing shortages, high patient ratios, burnout, moral distress and toxic work environments.

Whereas nurses quit because of cuts, chaos and mistreatment under the former Progressive Conservative government, Asagwara said the NDP government has embarked on a health-care listening tour, is taking steps to make workplaces safer, developing ways to better train people, and working with Indigenous communities.

“We are committed to working together as health leaders to make it easier for you to be part of our health-care workforce,” Asagwara said standing at a podium with a sign professing ‘We Love Nurses.’

“The culture in health care in Manitoba will be the best in Canada. That is how we’re going to retain staff, that is how we’re going to recruit and attract talent, and that is our mission here alongside partners.”

Former nurses interested in returning to the public system can contact their respective regulatory college for information on the new reinstatement criteria.

» Winnipeg Free Press