Hundreds of nurses and care support workers hired across the province

More than 500 nurses and care support workers have been hired to work in health care settings across the province to help address staffing shortages, alleviate workloads experienced by staff, and improve patient care. 

Health PEI, the Recruitment and Retention Secretariat and the Public Service Commission have been working collaboratively to identify ways to more efficiently hire nurses and care support workers to care for patients and address vacancies.  Since January 2023, Health PEI has hired 547 staff into permanent, temporary, or casual positions, including: 

• 9 nurse practitioners
• 201 registered nurses 
• 72 licensed practical nurses
• 265 resident care workers, personal care workers and home support workers

Of the 547 staff hired to date, 147 are new graduates. 

The collaborative and concerted efforts of the partnership also included streamlining the application process for externally posted registered nursing positions through a new online application portal launched in May. 

The new External Registered Nurse Application Portal makes it easier for qualified registered nurses to apply to multiple vacant nursing positions through a single application process, creating a better applicant experience and faster time-to-fill for externally posted positions. Those eligible to apply for externally posted positions through the online portal include: 

• individuals who are currently registered to practice as a registered nurse in Canada, or 
• individuals who will be registered to practice as a registered nurse in Canada within the next 6 months or graduate from a recognized Bachelor of Nursing Program within the next 6 months.

Since launching in May, 70 people have applied through the online portal, including 45 internationally educated nurses, and all are at various stages of the hiring process. 

Earlier this year, during a recruitment mission in Dubai, 26 internationally educated nurses were offered employment by Health PEI.  In October, a recruitment mission to Singapore resulted in 31 employment offers. These individuals are in various stages of immigration and are expected to start arriving in the province early next year. Plans are in place to support the seamless integration of internationally educated nurses into the workforce in a timely manner. 

Planning for a second recruitment mission to Dubai in early 2024 is underway as part of an effort to hire 200 internationally educated nurses into the public health care system to help address vacancies across the province. 

Health PEI has also created hundreds of new positions and career opportunities for nurses and care support workers over the past 12 months to support new and expanding programs and services for Islanders such as patient medical homes. Health PEI continues to build an internal talent acquisition team to support the overall recruitment process for the organization.  

Quotes: 

“A tremendous amount of planning and work has been carried out behind the scenes to address the staffing challenges in health care across the province. I am pleased to see this work starting pay off as we welcome more nurses and care support workers to the system and begin increasing support for frontline staff and their patients. A mix of initiatives like recruitment missions and finding efficiencies in hiring processes has benefitted us greatly in recent months and we will continue working together with our health care partners to build on that success moving forward.”

- Hon. Mark McLane, Health and Wellness Minister

“PEI has taken significant steps to address the need for more staff to care for Islanders in programs and services across the Island. I am thankful for these efforts, and we need to continue to accelerate this work in order to stabilize services. We also need to hire more staff to support our existing employees who are facing immense pressure every day to maintain the health system. Health PEI is dedicated to working closely with our partners to find new and innovative ways attract and hire many more skilled health care workers in the months to come.” 

- Dr. Michael Gardam, Health PEI CEO

Media contacts: 
Samantha Hughes
Health and Wellness
shughes@gov.pe.ca

Everton McLean 
Health PEI
emclean@gov.pe.ca