Outaouais region struggles to train and keep nurses, data shows

Quebec's Outaouais region is struggling to train college and university graduates who could address the region's nurse shortage, data obtained by Radio-Canada reveals.  

The numbers show that other regions in the province — including some less populous than the Outaouais — have two to four times more nursing graduates.

The 2018 cohort of Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO), for instance, had only 43 graduates, while the program offered by the same university on a different campus in Saint-Jérôme, Que., had 299 graduates.

"The reality is different. The Gatineau region is not very close to other major regions," said Sylvain Brousseau, the UQO's director of health studies.

Université du Québec à Chicoutimi also produces twice as many nurses as the UQO while serving a population four times smaller than Gatineau.

Université de Sherbrooke has four times as many nursing graduates as well.

Proximity to Ottawa one factor

In Quebec, people can become nurses by obtaining either a university degree or a diploma from one of the province's CEGEPs.

One factor that could explain the nursing graduate shortfall is the region's proximity to Ottawa, raising the concern that potential nurses will study there instead. 

"Ottawa does not help us, that's for sure," Brousseau said in a French-language interview. 

The majority of applications to the UQO program are not strong enough to be accepted, he added, with only about 40 people admitted each year.

"We would love to accept more, and I work hard on it, but we do not want to lower our admission criteria. We do not want to contribute to the race to the bottom, " Brousseau told Radio-Canada.

UQO evaluating its nursing program

UQO said it's evaluating its nursing program and is planning to launch a marketing campaign to raise awareness about it.

Nurses in Quebec are increasingly working to obtain a university education, according to the Quebec Order of Nurses, despite the fact they can practise in the province without a degree.

"Nurses want to be better equipped [and] also access positions with better working conditions," said Lucie Tremblay, the order's president. "This is a trend we are seeing, with the complexity of care and the aging of the population."

The Quebec Order of Nurses said one in two nurses in Quebec hold a bachelor's degree — although those numbers aren't reflected in the Outaouais, according to the data. 

The numbers there are closer to 30 per cent, the order said.

Fewer college graduates

There has been a decrease in admission applications to the college's nursing programs over the past five years, according to recent data from the Regional College Admission Service of Quebec, which includes CEGE​P de l'Outaouais.

CEGEP de l'Outaouais said that drop is reflected in the upcoming fall semester. 

We have seen it in other programs such as early childhood [programs].- Simon Desjardins, CEGEP de l'Outaouais communications director

"What we see this year is a decrease of about 20 per cent in applications for admission," said Simon Desjardins, the college's communications director.

The college believes the negative attention around the nursing profession — particularly as it pertains to patient care and working conditions — is causing the decrease.

"[There were a number] of nurses this winter who said they were exhausted," Desjardins said in a French-language interview. 

According to the college, about half of their graduates plan to head to university elsewhere in the province, with very few continuing their studies locally.

Not enough nurses to fill demand

CISSS Outaouais, the region's health network, said it's hired half of UQO's nursing graduates for the summer and all interested graduates from CEGEP de l'Outaouais.

While CISSS Outaouais estimates that 275 nursing positions need to be filled, the region's graduates fill only 20 per cent of this need.

"I always say that you have to be honest with yourself," said Robert Giard, the assistant director of human resources at CISSS Outaouais.

The health network said it's collaborating with educational institutions to find ways to keep nurses in the region.

Making the Outaouais a self-sufficient region for educating nurses isn't impossible, Giard said, but it also won't happen overnight.

"I think that together we all have this responsibility to make the profession more attractive," Giard said.