A new report from the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions shows that Newfoundland and Labrador paid some of the highest hourly rates in the country for agency nurses.
‘Opening the black box: Unpacking the use of nursing agencies in Canada’ follows up on information widely reported last winter after the Globe and Mail used Access to Information to uncover the millions of dollars spent by government to fill vacancies with nurses working for private agencies.
The CFNU says the highest hourly rate paid for agency nurses in the country was in the western region of Newfoundland and Labrador at $312.4 cents an hour. The outliers according to the report were Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and long-term care homes in Ontario where hourly rates were considerably higher than other parts of the country.
The report shows that the amount of taxpayer dollars spent on agency nurses in NL is projected to be $104 million for 2023-24—that’s based on the $86.7 million already spent during the first three quarters of the fiscal year.
The health authorities also accrued direct costs for travel, accommodations, professional development – including courses and textbooks—cabs, furniture, bills and appliances as well as meal per diems.
The CFN says nationwide, the amount spent on for-profit nursing agencies has ballooned to the billions of dollars. Among the aims of the NL Health Authority’s strategic plan released last week is to reduce the reliance on agency nurses by 30 per cent.