More Training, New Investment In Retention Centrepieces Of Expanded Nursing Strategy

Manitoba News Release
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April 24, 2008

The province will invest over $3 million to begin training an additional 40 new nursing students this fall, expand nurse training facilities at Red River College, boost investment in nurse recruitment and retention, and develop a new program to help more internationally-trained nurses practise in Manitoba, Health Minister Theresa Oswald and Advanced Education and Literacy Minister Diane McGifford announced today.”We’ve made tremendous strides increasing the supply of Manitoba nurses – nearly 200 more nurses are practising in the province over the past year alone – but we know we have work to do,” Oswald said. “An expanded provincial nursing strategy will allow us to build on the nearly 1,800 additional nurses we’ve added to the ranks since 1999.”

The University of Manitoba and Red River College (RRC) will each offer an additional 16 nurse training seats this fall. Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface will add eight new seats.

Today’s provincial commitment includes funding of $1.5 million to upgrade and expand nurse training facilities at Red River.

“Sustained investment in new training seats and first-class nurse training facilities are key planks in Manitoba’s nursing strategy,” said McGifford. “Our government has committed to add an additional 100 training seats over the next four years and I’m proud to announce that 40 of these new seats will be filled beginning this fall.”

The province also announced today:

– it will invest an additional $500,000 in the Nurses Recruitment and Retention Fund to expand access to continuing education, staff development and other opportunities that strengthen nurse retention; and

– in partnership with the Government of Canada, Manitoba will build capacity for language training, competency assessment and a bridging program for internationally-educated nurses. The project will help more internationally-educated nurses become registered to practise in Manitoba and will begin this fall.

“The University of Manitoba is pleased to receive additional resources to expand our undergraduate nursing cohort and to focus on offering nursing education to Aboriginal students in particular,’ said Emõke Szathmáry, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Manitoba. “The new funding will allow us to admit 16 more students and provide them with the education and training they need to become health-care professionals. As qualified nurses they will ensure quality health care for all Manitobans and will encourage and support Aboriginal students interested in the field of nursing.”

“RRC is a critical partner in the delivery of high-quality registered nursing education in Manitoba,” said Jeff Zabudsky, president of Red River College. “This funding will allow us to enhance our nursing facilities, acquire new simulation technologies and increase our capacity to train more nurses.”

“Increasing the supply of qualified bilingual nurses is an important component of providing quality health services to the francophone community of Manitoba,” said Raymonde Gagne, president of Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface. “We applaud the Government of Manitoba’s commitment to bilingual services in our province and, in turn, we pledge our institution’s commitment to this partnership.”

Oswald also today released a new Manitoba Nursing Strategy progress report, a blueprint for continued investment in nurse recruitment, retention, practice and training. The minister noted significant gains have been made since 1999 including:

– an additional 1,789 nurses now practicing in Manitoba;

– an increase in the number of training seats of 75 per cent to 1,107 (not including additional seats announced today);

• enrolment of 3,115 students in nursing education
programs in 2006-07, compared to 1,123 in 1999; and

– graduation of 706 nurses in 2006, three times the number in 1999.

The Manitoba Nursing Strategy report is available online at:
www.gov.mb.ca/health/nurses/strategy.html

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Backgrounder: More Nurses Working in Manitoba