RN Valerie Jefferd says the government has to act soon to ease the chronic shortage of nurses at the Inuvik hospital. - Lynn Lau/NNSL photo

They're calling for the territorial government to dedicate more resources to recruiting and retaining nurses, and they want health care workers to be able to form a separate bargaining unit to get what they're asking for.

In a Nov. 20 letter to the Union of Northern Workers, the nurses write: "Patient safety and care are being compromised and nurses are becoming increasingly burnt out ... Unless there are drastic changes soon, the situation will only become worse."

The letter was signed by 19 of the 29 nurses currently working at Inuvik Regional Hospital and copies were sent the Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Authority and Health Minister Michael Miltenberger.

Registered nurse Valerie Jefferd, who speaks on behalf of the group, says nurses in her ward work between 12 to 30 hours of overtime a week to cover for unfilled positions.

For most of the year, 12 full-time nurses and one part-time nurse have been doing the work of 16.5 positions.

The shortage takes a toll on morale, she says.

Better benefits needed

"You get stressed and sick, and it affects your family life because you're never home."

On Dec. 3, Miltenberger promised close to $8.3 million to hire more doctors and nurses for the territory -- including two in Inuvik. But Jefferd says creating new positions will do little to ease the problem.

"Where are we going to get them from?" she asks. "We already have positions available. We've been advertising for over a year now, and we haven't been able to fill them permanently."

She says part of the problem is the worldwide shortage of nurses. Although the NWT used to be one of the better paying jurisdictions in Canada, other regions are catching up.

Meanwhile, nurses here have lost some of the privileges they once enjoyed -- such as housing and travel bonuses. That leaves the NWT facing new difficulties in attracting qualified nurses, Jefferd says.

The nurses hope a first step to resolving the problem would be for the government to allow health care workers to form their own bargaining unit under the Union of Northern Workers. Currently, health care workers are lumped in with all the other NWT public service workers. In the summer, the government turned down a request to allow health care workers to bargain separately.