Nurses in the province of Ontario are in shorter supply this year, according to the findings of the Canadian Institute for Health Information. It is the first decline in the nursing supply in almost twenty years.
ListenAndrea Porter-Chapman, manager of health workforce information at the CIHI, said that while the nursing workforce continues to grow steadily, a decline in those ready to enter the workforce is now evident. Nurses make up the largest workforce in the healthcare system, according to Porter-Chapman, and hospital administrators and healthcare planners can use the information in their future plans.
‘Nurses make up the largest workforce in the Canadian healthcare system”
In Ontario, the province with the most people, and many of the them aging boomers, there was a decline in the amount of people seeking a nursing license, and an increase in the number of nurses leaving the profession. Over 12,000 nurses left in 2014.
Andrea Porter-Chapman says some left due to retirement, some moved elsewhere in the country or the world, and perhaps some are taking time away to care for family, either children or elders. She says while there is no one definitive cause, “it’s all about getting the conversation started.”
“it’s all about getting the conversation started.”
Meanwhile the growth rate for graduate nurses has dropped to under one per cent, from five to six per cent, signalling a slow down. The CIHI findings will be taken into account as healthcare system planners and hospital administrators look to the future and arrange for models of care, scopes of practice, and healthcare settings.
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