WHEREAS the shortage of nursing staff throughout the province has resulted in the closure of beds and forced the transport of patients in hazardous conditions particularly in the winter even for minor treatments; AND WHEREAS other staff reductions have taken place due to budget constraints that jeopardize the continued operation of community hospitals: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities urge the provincial government to guarantee sufficient funding to the health authorities to ensure that adequate staffing levels are restored to the health care system so that it again provides a first class level of service delivery.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH The Province of British Columbia Province, along with the rest of the country, is currently facing the challenge of a nursing shortage. Recognizing that increasing funding to the health authorities is not the sole solution to the nursing shortage, the Ministry of Health has implemented a comprehensive Nursing Strategy to address nursing health human resource needs that takes into consideration the specialized skills of nurses, the characteristics of the nursing workforce, and the changing population demographics and health needs. After a decade where investments were not made in nurse training spaces in the Province, since 2001 government has added 3,347 nursing education spaces an increase of 82 per cent. The increase in nursing education spaces has led to the graduation of over 7,500 new nurses in the past five years. The BC Loan Forgiveness Program was initiated in 2001 as an employment incentive to entice graduates to work in underserved communities. As of January 2007, nurses comprise 92 percent 389 out of 421 of the approved Loan Forgiveness candidates. An additional 1 million has been committed for 200708 by the Ministry of Health to support training and recruiting of third and fourth year nursing students for difficult to fill areaspositions. The Ministry of Health has invested 174 million in British Columbias Nursing Strategy since 2001 to help educate, retain and recruit the best qualified nurses in the Province. As a result of governments investment, 50 million has been funded to front-line leadership positions and training and an additional 30 million has been committed to specialty and continuing education programs. According to the nursing regulatory bodies, the total number of practising nurses in British Columbia has increased every year since 2001. As of December 2006, there were 39,382 nurses with a practising licence. In addition, the Provinces first group of Nurse Practitioners graduated in May 2005 and hold key positions in primary health care teams. Today, 51 Nurse Practitioners are working in rural and urban settings across the province.