The rise of agency nursing costs is seen as an unsustainable growth, with numbers climbing over the last six years in various Manitoba regions.
Each health region in the province, except Winnipeg, has experienced that increase last year in connection to private health agencies. This is according to data from Shared Health, obtained by 680 CJOB, which points to increased spending on agency nursing expenses by the Government of Manitoba.
Prairie Mountain Health Region, serving the province’s southwestern region, had spent more than $25 million last year. The second-highest spender was the Northern Health Region.
Ivy Bourgeault, a professor at the University of Ottawa and head of the Canadian Health Workforce Network, said that while this is an unsustainable growth, it’s also one that is being experienced by many health regions. She added that the allure of agency nursing is that it provides higher salaries and offers workers more control over their schedules.
“(The pay) is significantly more. It has to draw (workers) away from the types of benefits they would have in a full-time position,” said Bourgeault, referring to the need to keep nurses in the public health care system over joining a more private system.
She said that in looking at the appropriateness of these nurses’ pay and workload, it’s important to ensure that non-agency nurses are taken care of.
But aside from nurses’ pay, Bourgeault also noted that the money doesn’t always go to support salaries. Overall agency expenditures also include things like operational costs — costs that the professor noted are funded by the public.
“Not all of that money is going into, you know, nurses’ back pockets. You know, this is why we, where we need to really look at what is happening with the agencies: who’s operating those agencies, what are the trends,” said Bourgeault.
For Sonia Udod, associated professor of nursing at the University of Manitoba, the trend of increasing costs isn’t surprising. With nurses feeling overworked and exhausted, she said many are transitioning to the agency system and away from full-time paid work — all to take control over their own work.
“In all fairness to the nurses that have worked through COVID, they are really exhausted,” said Udod. “There has been an inordinate amount of pressure put on nurses… sometimes it is just too overwhelming.”
Zooming out of just agency nursing, Udod said it’s important to look at some of the issues plaguing nurses, especially in the public sphere. These include retention, recruitment, employer flexibility, and compensation. All of these, she said, are important because nurses are facing “a lot of anxiety.”
According to Shared Health, it, along with health regions across the province, is committed to reducing its reliance on agency nurses by creating a provincial float pool, increasing financial incentives and post-secondary nursing seats.
As the spotlight shines on Manitoba’s private health agencies, Quebec is planning to restrict the private system by 2025. Bourgeault said that she expects more governments will look toward regulation of the system if employers are to cut the economic impact and retain their nurses.
— with files from Global’s Rosanna Hempel
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