Hospitals are willing to pay $75,000 for new nurses
An acute shortage of employees is forcing health care facilities to lure new employees with hefty bonuses.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Canada, there is an increasing shortage of medical staff. Some Ontario hospitals have decided to resort to cash bonuses to get nurses back into the emergency departments.
For example, Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa is offering nurses up to $10,000 CAD if they don't agree to work for at least a year. And Windsor Regional Hospital is willing to pay a bonus of up to $75,000 CAD to new employees who come from other provinces or other countries.
According to Statistics Canada's latest data, there were more job openings in health and social care in January 2021 than in any other sector. Health care workers also reported that they worked even more hours in April of that year than they did in April 2020, the first wave of COVID-19.
Cash bonus programs are funded by the Government of Ontario. Some provinces, such as Prince Edward Island, offer bonuses to those nurses who take jobs in rural communities. But some health professionals believe such short-term incentives won't solve the long-term problem. They also note that the money does not compensate for the emotional strain faced by frontline workers.
In addition, surveys conducted by the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario show that many nurses are thinking about leaving the profession once the pandemic is over.
Dr. Doris Greenspoon, CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, believes that keeping nurses in numbers and attracting new hires would be helped by tuition and professional certification assistance, simplified recognition of foreign credentials, higher base salaries and better working conditions in hospitals.
