Nurses' union says its members are being passed over in favour of more expensive travel nurses

Travel nurses provided by private agencies are being given shifts before full-time and casual nurses in Newfoundland and Labrador, according to the union that represents registered and practical nurses in the province.

Yvette Coffey, president of the Registered Nurses' Union Newfoundland and Labrador said she doesn't understand why the health authority would choose the most expensive option for nursing when a less expensive one is available.

"Why would you pay overtime to a travel agency nurse who's making double the salary of the registered nurse under our union contract versus paying overtime to our member or a casual who is the cheapest option in the collective agreement?" asked Coffey, whose union represents more than 5,800 registered nurses and nurse practitioners.

The nurses' union says it has filed  "a group/policy grievance" over agency nurses getting shifts before its members and six other grievances have been made on behalf of individual union members. The union later clarified that 18 grievances have been filed on behalf of individual members.

"As a union we've been having discussions with N.L. Health Services and filing grievances as appropriate and we've resolved it in some cases," said Coffey.

Health Department documents acquired by CBC News through an access-to-information request in the spring estimated that using travel nurses to cover gaps in the health-care system would cost $18.4 million over 12 months, compared with $4.1 million employing nurses already in the system.

WATCH | Travel nurses and taxpayer money need a watchful eye, says union president Yvette Coffey:

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Nurses’ union president Yvette Coffey says nurses living in Newfoundland and Labrador should be getting shifts before travel nurses who have been hired to fill gaps in the province’s health-care system. In April, it was revealed that the province’s regional health authorities had spent around $100 million on private agency nurse contracts in the past year.

"Why would you not use a casual nurse or even our permanent staff versus paying that money? That's taxpayers' money that could be better spent on the people who are actually living and staying here in Newfoundland and Labrador," said Coffey.

She's urging the province to choose nurses represented by the union over those provided by nurse agencies.

"The government's first priority should be the employees of Newfoundland and Labrador and not a private company," she said.

The province says it has been forced to use travel nurses because Newfoundland and Labrador is struggling with a severe nursing shortage. The union says the last vacancy report it saw, in April, listed 746 vacancies. In a statement to CBC News, the Health Department says the province has hired 310 nurses since then.

• Health authorities spent $100M on travel nurse contracts in past year: documents
• CBC INVESTIGATES: As N.L. nurses leave full-time jobs, province calls in costly private agencies

In June, Health Minister Tom Osborne said he hoped travel nurses would soon be unnecessary.

"Globally there is a shortage of health-care professionals, so it is a necessary evil at the moment. I cannot wait to get rid of travel nursing in this province, but that means we need to recruit nurses," Osborne said at the time.

Coffey said N.L. Health Services' staffing practices are inconsistent with the minister's stated goal of ending the use of travel nurses.

"A decision that's made at that higher level of government by the time it's actually operationalized at the management level or through a staffing department, I don't think the message is getting through," she said.

Speaking with CBC News Tuesday afternoon, Collette Smith, N.L. Health Services' director of recruitment, education and culture, said the policy is to offer work to unionized, local employees first.

However, agency nurses are still being used if they can provide immediate support or are used to ensure local nurses have the resources they need to do their best work, she added.

WATCH | N.L. Health Services' director of recruitment defends travel nurses: 

We want to offer N.L. nurses first dibs, but travel nurses still ‘likely’ to be asked: health authority

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Newfoundland and Labrador’s registered nurses' union says its members are being passed over for shifts in favour of travel nurses employed by an outside agency — which costs taxpayers more money. Collette Smith, the provincial health authority’s senior director of recruitment, says travel nurses are meant to be used when “all possibilities” have been exhausted but acknowledges that they’re “likely” to be tapped when immediate help is needed.

"When a decision is being made operationally on the unit level, it is likely that if an agency nurse is available to provide immediate care that they may be approached to work at that moment. It's not meant to be a practice that we support on a routine basis, but no doubt I'm sure that has happened," Smith said.

"What I'd like to say to the union and to the nurses out there is that the care you provide is valued and it certainly is meant and intended that we would support you first and foremost."

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