More job offers issued to Filipino nurses, but few currently on the job

As the Saskatchewan government does what it can to shore up the struggling health-care system and its worker shortage, it’s again looking outside the province for solutions.

The government sent a second mission to the Philippines last month to recruit registered nurses and issued 236 conditional offers. That brings the total conditional offers given to RNs in the Philippines to nearly 400, according to ministry numbers.

Offers started being sent out last year but as of Thursday, Health Minister Paul Merriman said fewer than 10 were on the job working as RNs.

“Most of them are in that bridging program that we’re trying to streamline that process with the regulatory bodies, and we have a good process that we’re going to be looking at if there’s options to issue temporary licences and then have them micro-credential up to an RN,” said Merriman.

The news release from the ministry Thursday said only 18 RNs were currently in the bridging program.

How long the bridging program takes can depend the person, what they’re applying for and where they’re going, according to the minister.

“We have to remember that our RNs in Saskatchewan are highly trained. This is a highly skilled position so we want to make sure that they’re orientated into our system as soon as possible and done in a safe but efficient time,” said Merriman.

The province said four continuing care assistants and two medical lab assistants from the Philippines have been hired and are working in the province.

The Philippines has a nursing shortage itself but Merriman didn’t have any concerns about recruiting RNs to leave that country and come to Canada, saying it’s a good opportunity for people to work abroad and go back home.

“They have some challenging weather. They have everything from earthquakes to typhoons (and) they also have volcanoes,” explained Merriman.

“When they do have inclement weather, a lot of the houses are made out of wood and do suffer substantial damage. The ones that are made out of brick, they can tell that that’s the one that they have a foreign family member that is working that is sending money back home for the family.”

Merriman said all levels of government are supportive of the project and it’s a decision that’s entirely up to the nurses whether they come to Canada or not.

There isn’t any set target for international workers, according to Merriman. He said the government is going to try to bring in as many as it can and that the system can manage.

Merriman said the province isn’t just looking abroad, it’s also trying to scrounge up more health-care workers who are already in the province.

There are nine RNs based in Saskatchewan who are in the bridging education program, and 10 Ukrainians newcomers have been hired as health-care workers. To date, 114 graduates have been hired from the nursing programs in Saskatchewan, and 81 conditional job offers have been made to nurses who will be graduating this spring.

The Saskatchewan NDP, meanwhile, is encouraged that offers have gone out to nurses in the Philippines, but said that doesn’t necessarily mean boots on the ground.

“We definitely need folks here today who can help with the crisis that exists within the health-care system. The government has failed to plan for this health-care staffing shortage and we have been calling for a real strategy around human resources for years now,” said Health Critic Vicki Mowat.

Mowat wants the province to follow the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses’ call to create a nursing task force to explain what supports are needed for success and retention so nurses will stay once they get to Saskatchewan.

Mowat also believes the province should be putting more work into recruitment of people already in the province, particularly people in rural and remote communities and Indigenous peoples. She said if you look for people who are already in the province, they’re more likely to stay.

“It needs to be an all-hands-on-deck approach,” said Mowat.