In response to the Canadian Press article published on March 12, 2018: “Is bad press reducing interest in a nursing career in Quebec?” http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/is-bad-press-reducing-interest-in-a-nursing-career-in-quebec, which states that applications to college-level (CEGEP) nursing programs have decreased, and explores possible causes. Among them, the difficult working conditions often highlighted by the media.
While fully recognizing the conditions referred to in the article, it should be noted that applications to nursing programs at the university level across the province are on the rise, as referenced in Le Devoir last week: https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/523399/la-hausse-des-inscriptions-en-sciences-infirmieres-au-niveau-universitaire-se-confirme.
At McGill University’s Ingram School of Nursing, the total number of applicants to our undergraduate/bachelor programs alone for the 2018-2019 academic year is 1,270, which is almost five times the number of spaces we have available.
In addition to high numbers of applicants to our undergraduate/bachelor programs, applications at the graduate/master and doctoral level are on the rise, particularly for our Nurse Practitioner master’s programs, up over 70% compared to last year.
As for staffing and retention, we have a growing team of academic faculty and researchers, who are educating and mentoring students for careers on the frontlines of acute care, public and global health, and advancing nursing science and evidenced-based practice across the continuum of care.
What’s more, the latest Canada-wide statistics provided by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) show that in 2016, while there are some decreases in specific areas, overall, more registered nurses are entering the profession than leaving it.
Clearly, bad press is not reducing interest in a nursing career in Quebec, or the rest of Canada.
Providing 90% of health care services in the world, nurses help families regain their health; emotionally, physically and mentally, by creating conditions for them to heal and flourish. No other health care professional has such a broad and far-reaching role.
Our society will continue to need nurses, and people in it will continue to want to BE nurses.
The question we need to be asking our government representatives, then, is: how can we improve conditions and ensure healthy and sustainable working environments for nurses in practice?
And we need to be asking nurses—and individuals who are studying to become nurses—what are the conditions we can put in place that would enable them to flourish in practice?
When nurses can flourish, so can their colleagues, their interprofessional teams, and their employers—all to the benefit of patients, families and communities.
Click HERE to read the published version of the letter, signed by:
Anita J. Gagnon RN, MPH, PhD
Associate Dean, Faculty of Medicine; Director, Ingram School of Nursing
McGill University
Josée Bonneau, RN, MScN
Faculty Lecturer; Director, Master of Science (Applied) in Nursing Program, Ingram School of Nursing
McGill University
Madeleine Buck, RN, MScN
Associate Professor; Director, Bachelor of Science (Nursing) Program, Ingram School of Nursing
McGill University
Elaine Doucette, RN, MScN
Assistant Professor; Director, Bachelor of Nursing (Integrated) Program, Ingram School of Nursing
McGill University
Susan Drouin, RN, Doctor of Soc. Sci, CHE
Associate Professor; Director, Online Education Initiatives and Continuing Nursing Education, Ingram School of Nursing
McGill University
Mélanie Lavoie-Tremblay, RN, PhD
Associate Professor; Associate Director, Research, Ingram School of Nursing
McGill University
Norma Ponzoni, RN, PhD(c)
Assistant Professor; Director, Nurse Practitioner (NP) Programs, Ingram School of Nursing
McGill University
Sonia Semenic, RN, PhD
Associate Professor and Director, PhD Program, Ingram School of Nursing
McGill University