Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
A vice-president with Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services (NLHS) says she doesn’t anticipate relying any less on retired nurses, even as vacancies fill up.
“We will always have — even when our vacancies are, you know, at rock bottom levels — a need for an on-demand workforce,” said Debbie Molloy, vice-president of human resources for NLHS.
“I do foresee that we will continue to use some retired nurses. That’s perfectly natural and normal, I think in an operation like ours.”
Molloy was responding to a CBC report Thursday on a sharp increase in the use of retired nurses over the last decade.
Data obtained through access-to-information shows that last fiscal year there were 253 retired nurses who worked an average of 15,105.15 days.
By comparison, there were just six retired nurses who worked a combined 158 days during the 2014-15 fiscal year.
The peak was during the later years of the pandemic, as the province struggled with a large number of vacancies and increased use of private agency nurses.
“I’m delighted to say that we’re actually now at about pre-COVID levels in terms of our vacancies,” Molloy said.
“And during that time though, when we did have people who were leaving health care during and really just after COVID, we had a lot of people who had retired from us who were retired nurses who put up their hand.”
Registered Nurses’ Union president Yvette Coffey told CBC News in a statement that relying on retired nurses, casuals and other temporary staffing measures is not a long-term solution.
“These measures may help manage the pressure in the moment, but they do not fix the systemic issues affecting recruitment and retention,” Coffey wrote.
WATCH | The latest on nursing vacancies in N.L.:
N.L.’s health authority says it will continue to rely on retired nurses
Debbie Molloy, vice-president of human relations with NLHS, tells Ariana Kelland staffing levels have improved but she still anticipates using retired nurses in the workforce.
Molloy said retired nurses are working in every region of the health authority, and said they will continue to rely on them, citing the need to provide relief for permanent nurses when they take time off.
“I wouldn’t expect that to grow exponentially and I wouldn’t expect it to decrease exponentially either,” she said.
Molloy said there are currently 267 nursing vacancies that include full-time, part-time and casual postings. But she touted success with the graduating nursing class, 91 per cent of whom have accepted full-time permanent jobs with NLHS.
“I would say that I think we are in a very good place with vacancies.”
However, Molloy said the health authority is still using private agency nurses, with 180 expected to be in the system by the end of April.
In May 2024, then-NLHS CEO David Diamond said the health authority aimed to cut the number of private nurses from 340 to around 60 by April 2026.
“We’ve kept our eye on it very, very closely. There are no agency nurses coming in without a lot of scrutiny and we’re making sure that the very first options are within people who live and work in Newfoundland and Labrador,” Molloy said.
Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here . Click here to visit our landing page.