In a speech to the Nurses Association of New Brunswick annual meeting today, Premier Bernard Lord announced the government will introduce legislation in the fall that will enable nurses, RNAs, and nurse practitioners to be more fully utilised within a renewed health care system. I believe nurses can do more and should do more in our health care system, and I believe now is the time to make that happen. It's all part of providing the right care at the right time in the right way.
Nurses are integral to doing just that.
The premier discussed current state of health care in New Brunswick, describing the significant impact that nurses have on the quality of patient care. He described the coming changes in the role of nurses as the next step in renewing the role of nurses in the health care system. Lord spoke of the government record on nursing, stating that changes to nursing in the province have been made in consultation with nursing, beginning with the creation of 300 permanent nursing positions within its first 200 days. We did so and are extremely proud of it, but we also knew this was but a first step. Since its inception, the strategy has resulted in a two per cent increase in the number of nurses since last year, an increase in the number of permanent nurses with a corresponding decrease in casual nurses and increased enrolment in nursing programs in the province.