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The number of practicing nurses on the rise in Canada

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows there’s been a nine per cent increase in the number of nurses working across the country, in the last five years.

But Debra McPherson with the BC Nurses Union says while most of the hires in this province are Licensed Practical Nurses, there’s still a desperate need for Registered Nurses, who have more training and education behind them. “Relative to 2009, the number of Registered Nurses per hundred thousand population, still has not recovered.”

She says most of the new hires only have about a year of training to offer. But many Registered Nurses, even those with at least four years of training, are having trouble finding work, despite the fact that the healthcare system needs them.

The report also says nursing levels have not yet returned to where they were in the 90s.

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