Safer HSC will improve odds of attracting U.S. nurses, union says

Manitoba’s first targeted U.S. campaign to attract American board-certified nurses has led to three new hires, nine currently working toward being licensed and 29 additional expressions of interest.

“We’re glad to see that interest, but this is just one tool in our recruitment toolbox,” Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said in a statement. “Our priority remains the one-on-one relationship-building that’s proven to get results and keep people here for the long term.”

If the province wants to attract more nurses, it needs to get its largest hospital removed from the “grey list” alerting nurses that it’s an unsafe place to work, says the head of their union.

“What recruits and retains nurses is nurses who are happy with where they’re working, and who feel safe and secure,” Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said Thursday. “You stay where you feel like you’re valued by your employer. You don’t stay somewhere where you don’t feel safe.”

Health Sciences Centre nurses last week voted 94 per cent in favour of grey-listing the hospital, a designation that advises colleagues to decline jobs and turn down shifts at the hospital because of ongoing safety concerns.

“We’re saying, ‘It’s an unsafe place to go — think again if you’re going to apply,’” Jackson said. “What we’re really saying is, ‘Mr. Employer, if you actually had a safe workplace and respected and valued your nurses, it wouldn’t be an issue to recruit and retain nurses.’”

The HSC nurses want stricter screening and control of access points, swipe cards to access hospital tunnels, an early alert system to warn staff members and patients about security incidents, a formal process for post-incident debriefs and a formal review of security training and policies within 30 days.

They also want a police presence until there is greater coverage from institutional safety officers.

The HSC response to the nurses’ grey-listing vote has been to produce a list of safety measures that have already been taken, she said.

“Most of it was compelled by an arbitrator,” she said. “It wasn’t done voluntarily.”

The province is working with Shared Health to improve safety through initiatives such as a new “hold and secure” paging system that implements lockdown procedures in the event of emergencies. The paging system was implemented July 24, a spokesperson for the minister said Friday.

“What recruits and retains nurses is nurses who are happy with where they’re working, and who feel safe and secure.”–Union president Darlene Jackson

The health minister, who uses “they/them” pronouns, said Thursday they’re working on improving safety.

“Nurses want a safe workplace and we’re talking directly to HSC nurses about how we can create a more secure facility for everyone who uses it,” Asagwara, a psychiatric nurse, said in the statement.

“We’ll keep making progress on health-care staffing, taking action to improve security, and we will never let up on building a better system for front-line workers.”

The NDP government has made progress on chronic staffing shortages and followed through on its commitment to get nurses “the fair wages they deserve,” Asagwara said.

“Today, there are 250 more nurses caring for patients at HSC than when we took office (in October 2023),” they said.

Manitoba cast a lure for American nurses in March. The Shared Health recruitment drive targeted nurses working in the U.S. with concerns about their ability to care for patients under the administration of President Donald Trump.

Trump’s executive orders have impacted the American health-care system: stopping federal support for gender-affirming care, exiting the World Health Organization and no longer recognizing transgender and non-binary identities.

“Manitoba is home to culturally diverse populations and welcoming communities, with a strong focus on providing safe and inclusive health services that meet the needs of all residents,” a March 14 advertisement on Shared Health’s Instagram page read.

The social media campaign also mentioned a streamlined process for transferring a U.S. nursing licence to Manitoba.

College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba president Deb Elias said they have made “pragmatic and tangible improvements to the registration experience.”

The college issued a news release this week announcing the steps it has taken to expedite registering nurses from outside of Manitoba, and how it’s working with its partners to meet Manitoba’s nursing needs.

“We also wanted just to really demonstrate the urgency of the situation,” Elias said.

Asagwara said changes made by the college to streamline its licensing process will help recruitment efforts.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.

Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.