Forty-nine emergency room nurses from Saskatoon have written the health minister to complain of Saskatchewan's use of contract nurses, whom they say are valued more as shown by their pay.The provincial government has increasingly turned to contract nurses, also called travel nurses or agency nurses, to address gaps in health care. However, regular nurses at St. Paul's Emergency Department told Health Minister Everett Hindley by letter that the arrangement is not working well."One of the biggest changes that we have experienced in the last three years is the hiring of agency nurses. To the unit staff who have shown commitment to the emergency department, the agency nurses appear valued while they themselves are not," the signatories wrote."Unfortunately, monetary compensation in today's world implies worth and the agency nurses discuss their wages which range from ninety to one hundred and thirty dollars per hour, nearly triple the hourly wage of the home-based nurse.""Beyond the difference in wage, as we scrape our windows in 40-below weather and shiver as we warm our vehicles, the agency nurse is picked up in a toasty warm Uber and dropped at a residence that has been provided for them to have a meal that they are compensated for."The care the travel nurses provide received mixed reviews in the letter, dated April 6."The number of agency nurses employed by the department is steadily increasing and although we have had those who fit in well, several do not have the skills that are necessary to work in an emergency department. They are unfamiliar with the facility and receive minimal orientation," the regular ER nurses said.The nurses said "casual RNs . . . feel pushed out of our unit." According to the letter, agency nurses are guaranteed 14 pre-booked shifts as their baseline, but full-time home based nurses are scheduled for 12."Agency nurses have come with pre-booked overtime shifts while home based nurses must apply and can be denied. Home based nurses are frequently forced to pick up overtime on other units and watch as agency nurses work in theirs," the letter complains."When we can find ways to attract agency nurses and keep them coming back, why can we not find ways to retain our own nurses?"In comments to reporters Thursday, Hindley said $59 million was spent on travel nurses in the 2023 calendar year. He added that provincial recruitment plans were showing progress, but Saskatchewan and other provinces were using travel nurses to build capacity in the meantime."We've increased the number of training seats we have in Saskatchewan, trying to hire more nurses in to fill those vacancies, but in the meantime, trying to balance the need for filling those vacancies over time and making sure that the existing staff do have the ability to have time off or whether it's holidays, or sick days and sometimes that requires the use of travel nurses," Hindley said.Hindley said the Health and Human Resources Action Plan, first announced in September 2022 had brought 250 new and permanent full-time positions across many rural communities as well as infill vacancies with new nurses. He said the goal was to replace the need for travel nurses entirely.Asked if travel nurses could threaten nurse morale, Hindley said it can work both ways."I can see where that would be detrimental and I've heard that from nurses that I have heard from and spoken to directly. But I've also talked to other nurses in health care facilities who have said they are grateful to have travel nurses in because it does allow them to be able to take holidays, to be able to have sick time." Opposition Health Critic and NDP MLA Jared Clarke said there was a place for travel nurses, but not as large as it had become."Around ER capacity reduction, we're still not seeing results . . . hip and knee replacement surgeries are still the longest in the country," Clarke said."We see the Sask Party government just digging a hole there. They're increasingly relying on these out-of-province contract nurses. And I think it just speaks to the fact that their health care recruitment plan isn't working."
