The president of the Registered Nurses Union says her members have their heads down, and are working through the challenges presented by the recent cyber attack on the health care system.

Yvette Coffey says the revelations that employee information has been breached has caused another layer of pressure and anxiety for nurses, but she says government will soon provide a some relief to those concerns.

Coffey says the RNU is in communication with the regional health authorities and government on a daily basis.

She says they are being assured by them that there will be procedures put in place, as well as security monitoring for her members bank accounts free of charge.

She says government is working on getting a contract with a company that’s going to cover staff and patients for up to 5 years.

Coffey says she is not hearing that any of her members have had any outside attempts to access their banking information, and she is hoping it stays that way.

She says even though the information has been compromised, there is no indication that it has been misused at this point.

Coffey says the cyber attack is places an additional challenge on top of an already strained healthcare system.

She says there are backlogs, issues with recruitment and retention, and day to day operations are still being affected by the nursing shortage.

However, Coffey says she is pleased to see the regional health authorities step up by providing mental health supports through the employee family assistance program.

She says her members are strongly encouraged to call Bridge the Gapp if they are feeling stressed.