85 more nursing seats funded to boost enrolment in N.B. nursing programs

The province is hoping to boost enrolment by funding an additional 85 nursing seats a year at the University of New Brunswick and theUniversity ofMoncton'snursing programs.

The new 10-year funding agreement would reward UNBfor graduating nurses, providing it with $35,000 for each new graduate above a baseline of 155,up to 206 per year.

The baseline for U of M is 126,up to 160 graduates per year.

The program could see UNB receive upwards of $1.78 million a year in funding, and University of Monctoncould see $1.19 million a year.

Paul Mazerolle, president of UNB, said attracting students into the program hasn't been an issue.

What has been an issue, he said,is the cost of educating a nursing student, which in the past has limited the number of students the university can accept.

"The cost of educating nurses is incredibly high, in part because of the accreditation requirements around clinical education," said Mazerolle.

"This kind of extra investment will allow us to provide a bit more support and to take on more students. So that's going to help build capacity in terms of the nursing pipeline going forward."

Retaining nurses

However, Mazerolle said having a high number of nursing student spaces is only part of the solution.

He said nursing grads are highly sought after across the country, and they are being lured away from the province.

This is something the regional health authorities will have to consider.

"We know that nurses who are from New Brunswick, who are educated in New Brunswick, have a higher likelihood of staying," said Mazerolle.

"We'll do our part, but we need to ensure that the health authorities are doing their partand they are committed to do so, so that we can ensure that nursing graduates get good paying jobs to stay in New Brunswick."

Province funds 51 nursing seats at UNB, but with conditions

3 years ago

Duration 1:46

New 10-year funding agreement would reward the university for graduating nurses. UNB is set to get $35,000 for each new graduate after the first 155 new nurses, up to 206 graduates.

The province has been dealing with a chronic nursing shortage for years.

Last July, Paula Doucet, president of the New Brunswick Nurses Union, told CBC News that there were 854 nursing vacancies across the province's health-care services.

Health Minister Dorothy Shephard told CBC News after the announcement that the vacancy rate for nurses in the Horizon Health Network stands at 16 per cent, and 12 per cent for Vitalit.

These shortages have been exacerbated by the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced many medical professionals to self-isolate because of the virus.

As of last Tuesday, the latest numbers available, 454 health-care workers in the Horizon and Vitalithealth networks were self isolating.

The province had a funding agreement with both UNB and the UniversityofMoncton to fund a combined 95 more nursing seats a year, but that expired last March.