The Registered Nurses’ Union says questions still remain after government this week released numbers on nursing recruitment, vacancies and attrition.
The RNU initially raised concerns about transparency after government released nursing recruitment numbers, with the union pointing to a discrepancy between the figures reported versus the smaller number of vacancies filled.
On Thursday, government released a broader and more specific range of numbers which show that despite successful recruitment efforts, nurses are continuing to leave the public system.
RNU President Yvette Coffey says while she’s pleased to see more information released publicly, she says many questions remain unanswered.
“We still have questions around how some of those numbers were calculated, and the validity of them,” she said.
As an example, Coffey cites the use of an asterix next to numbers reported in the Labrador-Grenfell zone.
“It looks like the recruitment there was hyperinflated by the use of our locums,” she said.