Inuit nurses key to ending shortages: NTI report

NTI’s recent report on the recruitment and retention of nurses in Nunavut says more Inuit nurses can be trained if governments make big changes in attitude.

The successful recruitment and retention of Inuit nurses is the key to addressing current and future shortages in Nunavut, says a new report from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

But boosting the number of Inuit nurses and then finding ways to keep them on the job will require more than “minor adjustments to the health care and education systems,” says the report, Recruitment and Retention of Inuit Nurses in Nunavut.

“It will require profound systemic and attitudinal change, and it will not be achieved overnight,” says the report, tabled in the Nunavut legislature on March 15 as a follow-up to the government’s territorial strategy of 2007.

Inuit nurses now hold only about three per cent of the 217 nursing jobs in Nunavut, for a total of seven positions, mainly in the Kivalliq region, where five Inuit nurses work.

In an effort to improve those numbers, Nunavut Arctic College has offered a four-year bachelor of science in nursing degree in Iqaluit since 2002, with plans to expand the program to Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet.

But of the 18 registered nurses who graduated from the NAC nursing program by 2008, only seven graduates were Inuit.

In 2009, the first year of the four-year program started with 12 students, but will finish with only four students, of which three are Inuit, NTI says.

Improving the recruitment and retention of Inuit nurses would provide cultural, linguistic and social benefits to Inuit, NTI argues.

As well, Nunavut would keep its trained nurses and the costly use of agency nurses would be reduced.

But this won’t be easy to achieve, NTI acknowledges.

The barriers to upping the numbers of Inuit nursing students include weak academic preparation and poor promotion of nursing as a career.

Many students who make it to the nursing program have trouble staying with it.

“More social programming for students was identified as a way to help nursing program students stay active and healthy, reducing the likelihood of loneliness, depression, and self-destructive behaviours like substance abuse,” the NTI report says.

Inuit nursing students also have trouble with finding housing and childcare.

If they graduate, the fledgling nurses face problems getting jobs in Nunavut— because, for example, the Qikiqtani Regional Hospital only hires nurses with experience.

One graduate Inuk nurse waited so long for a job in Nunavut that she left the profession, the NTI report notes.

Once hired, Inuit nurses who stay in Nunavut stand to receive less money and benefits than agency nurses, although they face additional pressures from friends and families wanting after-hours health care and translation services.

“Inuit nurses entering the field receive no gradual or phased-in introduction to their jobs; they are expected to perform as experienced nurses from their first day on the job. Although they have all the necessary qualifications and level of competencies for the position, a transitional period of orientation and adjustment would help alleviate stress,” the report suggests.

To improve this situation, NTI concludes its 40-page, bilingual report with seven recommendations to:

• Improve financial aid to Inuit nursing students;

• Eliminate barriers to Inuit nursing employment, by setting targets for hiring Inuit nurses, giving Inuit nurses priority on shift selections and rotations, and addressing pay and benefits discrepancies;

• Set up mentorships between new Inuit nurses and more experienced nurses;

• Better prepare Nunavut students for careers in nursing;

• Provide more support for Inuit nursing students, including improved access to housing and reliable childcare;

• Create ongoing measures to provide them with professional development; and,

• Promote nursing as a career choice in Nunavut.

As an example of success, the NTI report points to the Nunatsiavut region where Inuit staff five of eight nursing positions.

There, half the training is provided in Labrador and Inuttut is incorporated into the curriculum. Nurses and nursing as a career are given a high profile, and graduates receive more support and guaranteed employment when they finish their studies.

For the report, NTI conducted interviews, looked at existing reports and held four focus groups in Nunavut communities.

To read the whole report, download the PDF from: bit.ly/cT2rq2