The province’s reliance on private agency nurses remains high, but the numbers are dropping.
That’s according to NL Health Services.
The health authority says the number of agency nurses working in the province’s public health care system now sits at 357, down from 373 in February.
The highest number of travel nurses working in the province at one time has been close to 400, but officials say the goal is to reduce that number to zero.
The vast majority of private agency nurses are working in more rural areas, with less than 20 deployed in the St. John’s metro region.
The contract for such nurses in the western zone ended in February and was not renewed.