'We need to move on both fronts at the same time, for both are crucial.'

Over the next five years, Nunavut plans to increase the number of nurses in the territory by hiring 12 additional nurses and training 30 more Inuit nurses in the Kivalliq and Kitikmeot regions, the health department's new nursing recruitment and retention strategy says.

Attracting "motivated and skilled" nurses and training more Inuit to enter nursing will be the main challenge of the strategy, which was made public Nov. 9.

"Clearly, we need to move on both fronts at the same time, for both are crucial," the strategy document says.

To lower Nunavut's dependency on agency nurses and provide a more stable work force, the health department will hire 12 new nurses.

These new hires will be evenly divided among Nunavut's three regions, with four based in Iqaluit, four in Rankin Inlet and four in Cambridge Bay, where they'll be available to fill in at community nursing stations.

"By establishing nursing relief pools in the regional centres, we can reduce costs and provide better support for our northern workforce," says the document.

The health department will also spend $3.4 million until 2013 to train more Inuit nurses. Nunavut Arctic College in Cambridge Bay and in Rankin Inlet will offer an upgrading year in math and science. NAC will follow up this year up with four-year nursing programs in the two communities, which could start by 2010.

In collaboration with the education department, high schools will also develop course materials that prepare students for a nursing career.

With these hiring and training efforts, the health department hopes to lower the 30 to 40 per cent nursing vacancy rate to 15 to 20 per cent by 2013.

To boost recruitment, the health department also plans to launch "an aggressive campaign" and create a new "Nunavut nursing network" to coordinate its various recruitment and retention efforts.

Health minister Leona Aglukkaq planned to table her department's nursing recruitment and retention strategy in the legislature on Nov. 9, but the sitting ended late Nov. 8. This means MLAs were unable to ask questions in the house about the strategy's implementation schedule and cost.

To trim the expenses associated with bringing in agency nurses, the health department will develop a policy to fix the maximum pay rates and benefits for agency nurses. These will be more on line with those offered to indeterminate nurses, the strategy says.

Agency nurses will also work in communities for six weeks in order to reduce travel costs.

In her Nov. 8 minister's statement on the strategy, Aglukkaq said the health department would start immediately carrying out the strategy.

As for any improvements in benefits and pay for nurses, the package for Nunavut nurses is subject to negotiation with the Nunavut Employees Union, Aglukkaq said.

An unresolved issue remains the health department's need for 55 housing units for employees at the new health centres in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay.

"The lack of staff housing is one of the biggest impediments to recruiting indeterminate nurses in Nunavut," the strategy says.

The health department said it will work with the Nunavut Housing Corp. to find a solution to the housing shortage.