Can N.L. drastically reduce its reliance on travel nurses? This one has doubts | CBC News

A former travel nurse says Newfoundland and Labrador’s move away from nursing agencies won’t be possible unless the province commits to fixing all the problems that led to the issue in the first place.

Mark Hernandez, who spent time working in the province during his career as a travel nurse, says the heavy reliance on agencies is not going to be an easy problem to resolve.

The provincial government says it plans to reduce its number of travel nurses from 340 to 60 by April 2026.

“I’d say that is a knee-jerk reaction,” Hernandez told CBC News this week. “I don’t know if it’s really well thought through, because travel nurses, we exist for a reason.”

Hernandez said the biggest reason is the understaffing of public system nurses. Many are left burned out, he said, and opt to move to casual or private agencies for a better work-life balance. Private sector nurses are often paid far more for the same work and have more flexibility in their schedules. 

A report by the Globe and Mail in February found Newfoundland and Labrador had spent nearly $35.6 million on companies to provide nursing services in the span of five months.

Hernandez said those companies work well as a “temporary solution,” but the problems with understaffing have become a permanent fixture of the health-care industry.

He said he’ll believe the government’s plans are plausible only if he sees the results.

Nurses will go elsewhere

Hernandez — who moderates the country’s largest social media group for travel nurses — said people have always been drawn toward Newfoundland and Labrador for a variety of reasons. He’s concerned the pivot away from private nurses will make those people move elsewhere, rather than take positions within the public system.

The province’s nurses’ union has also spoken out about no-poaching clauses — which prohibit the province from hiring nurses away from private companies — built in to some agency contracts. The union says the clauses force nurses to go elsewhere when their job is finished in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Hernandez said Canadian nurses are highly sought after around the world, and there are higher paying opportunities in the United States.

Still, he says the province’s plans to reduce its reliance on nursing agencies is a good idea — if it’s well thought through and executed properly.

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