Recruitment efforts to hire more nurses into the public health care system continue.

According to numbers provided by the department, as of March 13, 189 job offers had been accepted by new graduates in the province, while more than 500 nurses, including nurse practitioners, RNs and LPNs, have been hired by the health authority in the last year.

Health Minister Tom Osborne says offers have also been made to nurses in countries like India where recruitment efforts are underway “as well as nurses in Dubai that meet the licensure requirements in this province, and need to pass the NCLEX exam to get here” the minister says. “Some of them have already begun the exam and passed, some are in the process of doing the exam, but we are preparing for the arrival of these nurses that the recruitment office and the health authority have been able to recruit.”

Meanwhile, the department says a number of retention initiatives recommended by the Registered Nurses Union are being put in place including allowing RNs to prescribe medications and order diagnostic testing, and the addition of 160 new child care spaces slated for opening with priority being given to health care workers.