MORE NURSES AND DOCTORS WORKING IN SASKATCHEWAN

Saskatchewan is celebrating the addition of more than 900 nurses now working in the province than in 2007-08. This represents more than 80 nurses than last October when the provincial government met and exceeded its commitment to hire 800 more registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses.

The majority of these nurses have been hired as part of the work under the partnership agreement between the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) and the provincial government, signed in February 2008. Additional positions have been created by health regions.

"This great recruitment success is above and beyond our election commitment, and it goes a long way toward addressing the nursing shortage in Saskatchewan," Health Minister Don McMorris said today at SUN's Innovators Conference in Regina.

While the SUN/government partnership agreement has met its goal for nursing recruitment targets, work continues on a number of important areas including:

• finding ways to keep nurses in the workplace longer;
• improving nurse/patient ratios and increasing the use of nurse practitioners; 
• establishing a mechanism to make it easier for licensed practical nurses to become registered nurses;
• focusing on prevention and promoting wellness by using nurses in new roles;
• ensuring new graduates are offered full-time permanent employment; and 
• expanding professional development and conducting patient exit surveys.

In addition, the government's physician recruitment strategy is showing results with nearly 200 more doctors now calling Saskatchewan home, representing an increase of 11 per cent over the past four years.

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For more information, contact:

Tyler McMurchy
Health
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4083