Public system spent at least $1.5-billion on private nurses last year, study finds
Public system spent at least $1.5-billion on private nurses last year, study finds
The study was commissioned by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions in response to concerns over a growing reliance on temporary nurses
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I am a disability support worker, and would like to add a little context that may affect how this expense is perceived. One of the types of in home support for the very disabled, injured or the very old, is nursing.
Some types of in home care require a nurse - administering certain medication, handling a ventilator, wound care, etc.
If there are not nurses in the community offering these services the alternative is that these people go to the hospital for the round the clock care they need - a much more expensive proposition.
Is this where the majority of hours are worked? Because the way I understand the scheme, it's the facilities that have no other choice but to hire agency staff where the growth is. Like hospitals.
Ah, do facilities hire private nurses? Like traveling nurses? I had only heard the term "private nurse" as in one who is privately hired to work in the home.
Edit: Ah, they do indeed, I have now read the article, apologies. I read private nurses and assumed it meant in home nurses. It seems in Canada the term applies to travel nurses or agency nurses.
"Private" here is being used to mean "private sector", not "personal".
Yes I get that now, in Australia the term "private nurse" is used exclusively as far as I know to refer to private in home nurses.
If I google "private nurses Australia" it is clear this is the case, and a company I have worked through is one of the top results.
If I google "private nurses Canada" the results all refer to agency nurses like the above article.
My mistake, I made an assumption without actually reading the article before commenting.