Brock University Assistant Professors of Nursing Vanessa Silva e Silva and Amina Silva (who begins at Brock in July), and Associate Professor of Nursing Karyn Taplay had a piece recently published in the Hamilton Spectator about steps Brock is taking to help address the shortage of nurses in Canada.

They write:

“It’s no secret that Canada has been experiencing a chronic shortage of nurses for many years — a situation illuminated by the high demand for health-care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. But what can be done about it?

Nurses are the core of Canada’s health-care system, and having a reduced number of workers in the field negatively impacts the quality of health-care services. In fact, recent reports show that about 80 per cent of Canadian nurses feel they have inappropriate staff numbers to adequately care for their patients.

While no single action is likely to solve the nursing shortage, there are a range of possible recommendations that can help address the issue.

One action the government of Ontario has already taken is to try and facilitate the mobility of registered nurses in Canada via the new “as of right” rules, which allow health-care workers registered in other provinces and territories to immediately work in Ontario without having to go through the process of reregistration in the province. While this helps with nurses’ mobility through Canada, it does not solve the problem alone.”

Continue reading the full article on the Hamilton Spectator website.