The President of the Registered Nurses Union wants to see a number of serious and outstanding issues addressed as government launches another effort to recruit health care professionals to the province.

Newfoundland and Labrador has set up a recruitment desk in India for graduates of nursing schools in Bengaluru, and Health Minister Tom Osborne is leading a delegation in Ireland this week aimed at gauging interest in drawing physicians and other health care professionals to this side of the pond.

The health care system has lost more than 60 full-time nurses over the last year.

RNU President Yvette Coffey says government needs to address the issues related to retention, or run the risk of losing even more health care workers.

She says a quarter of her membership are casual, and if workplace conditions improved, many more permanent positions would be filled.

“We already have the numbers here to fill the over 600 vacancies,” says Coffey, “you’re talking over 1,200 RNs and NPs here in this province who are casual.” She admits some of those members will never take a permanent job for personal reasons, but says improvements to workplace conditions, like addressing violence in the workplace, 24-hour shifts and mandated overtime will help with retention. Yes, she says recruitment will help with mandated overtime, but if other issues in the workplace are not addressed, “we won’t keep them either.”