Nurse
Northern Health has a plan

Northern Health has a new recruitment plan

Jun 19, 2019 | 3:41 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Northern Health has released its latest recruitment and retention plan, which identifies seven disciplines that will merit special attention. They are: Register Nurses. Licence Practical Nurses, health care assistants, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, sonographers and pharmacy technicians.

Northern Health says says some of those professionals are in short supply across the province, but Pharmacy Technicians are a need unique to Northern Health because iof the team-based delivery model in local health care.

“When we’re looking at our compliment of professionals and when we’re looking at primary care teams, for example, where they would add that,” explains Sandra Rossi, the Regional Director for Recruitment for Northern Health.

The BC Nurses Union applauds Northern Health’s efforts, but says there needs to be greater emphasis on retention. “

There’s no point in forcussing on recruitment until we start really looking at retention,” says Christine Sorensen, President of the BCNU. “The North needs to look at they keep their nurses. Their new nurses and the long-term employees because you can recruit and recruit, but if they don’t stay you’ll continue to have an ongoing staffing problem. She suggests things like a traveling nurses pool or loan forgiveness plans as a couple of incentive.

Northern Health’s plan was written before the Province announced physio and occupational therapy training to be delivered in Northern BC, something that puts a huge smile on Sandra Rossi’s face.

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