Nurses union renews call for N.L. to expand locum travel program, ensure equitable pay

The Registered Nurses' Union of Newfoundland and Labrador is reissuing a call for the provincial government to expand a nursing travel locum program provincewide, saying success in Labrador shows health care can be provided by nurses and nurse practitioners in under-served areas.

The program has been used in the public health-care system since September 2022. It allows health-care professionals the ability to travel to communities on the north coast of Labrador for a minimum of two weeks.

A recent union poll of nurse practitioners showed 81 per cent of respondents are interested in doing similar locums, according to union president Yvette Coffey.

"We've been calling for the expansion of this travel locum out to the whole province, so that these rural, remote areas of the island can also access these travel locums," Coffey told CBC News Wednesday. "

Coffey calls the program a homegrown solution to cut down on the high costs incurred by private agency nurses. The province has spent millions of dollars on agency nurses to fill gaps in its health system in recent years, notably $90 million on the in 2023 alone.

"This is substantially cheaper," Coffey said.

"It's an extra $25 an hour for time worked in these rural, remote areas, compared to travel nurses [and] private agencies who are making upwards of two to three times the salary of registered nurses and nurse practitioners in this province."

In an emailed statement to CBC News, the Health Department said a locum program for registered nurses is currently under evaluation.

Coffey said she met with Health Minister John Hogan on the issue in the fall, and hopes to have another meeting soon.

Further, the union is also calling on the province to find a way to pay nurse practitioners through the publicly-funded health system while ensuring equal pay for equal work.

WATCH | Nurse practitioners could be helping more people who don't have a family doctor, says union:

Let nurse practitioners be a cheaper, homegrown fix for primary care: union

2 days ago

Duration 2:45

The president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses’ Union Yvette Coffey says nurse practitioners could be running clinics where no doctors are available. That is happening in some places now, but patients have to pay out of their own pocket. Coffey tells the CBC’s Mark Quinn they want that to change.

"We have private nurse practitioners out there with their own clinics who have no other choice but to charge patients out of pocket. No person in Newfoundland and Labrador should have to pay out of pocket for basic health-care needs," Coffey said.

She said she would also like the province to explore the idea of nurse practitioner-led clinics, saying their scope of practice can allow them to do more.

"They do not want to be micromanaged. They are independent health-care practitioners," Coffey said.

"We could have clinics with three or four nurse practitioners. They can all work together to manage their schedule, to manage their clients, and to be able to avail of locum opportunities and go and help out in these rural, remote, hard to recruit areas."

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