Why some new Island nurses are falling through the signing-bonus cracks | CBC News
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P.E.I. Minister of Health Mark McLane says some new nurses have been caught in clerical limbo when it comes to receiving a recent recruitment incentive, but the province is committing to getting them their money.
The recruitment program offered $8,000 to recently graduated nurses signing on to full-time positions with Health P.E.I. after Jan. 1, 2023. An additional $5,000 was available to nurses accepting positions outside of Charlottetown.
But in the legislature Tuesday, Liberal MLA Robert Henderson raised the fact that he was getting calls from nurses who were still waiting on that money.
“Usually just after you graduate, there is a lot of bills to pay. You’re trying to establish your life,” Henderson told CBC News after question period. “You’re expecting a set amount of money and now you have not received it.”
During the exchange in the legislature, McLane told Henderson he was familiar with the situation and agreed it was frustrating.
Shifting definition involved
He later told CBC News the problem can be traced back to new definition of “full-time nurse” in the union’s latest collective agreement that was ratified in the spring.
McLane said the people still awaiting the bonuses, fewer than 10 in all, “got kind of stuck in between the collective agreements where the eligibility criteria changed. So it’s unfortunate.
But he added: “It’s a very small group. We worked through a few already… we don’t think there’s too many left.”
The minister said the government is committing to honouring the incentive promise, regardless of which collective agreement was in place when the nurses signed on.
Premier Dennis King’s government has said recruitment of nurses is a priority in a system plagued by vacant health-care jobs.
McLane pointed to the rural incentive bonus tied to this program as one thing that has helped.
“That’s what it’s designed to do. We’re seeing some movement on the nursing front for sure,” he said. “We’re going in the right direction.”
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