‘It is killing morale’: Redeployment of N.B. nurses will force staff out, says opposition

The New Brunswick government is shifting some nurses to areas with staffing needs.

The New Brunswick government is confirming a plan to “redeploy” some nurses within the health care system to where they’re needed most, but the official opposition is calling the move a job cut.

Interim Progressive Conservative Leader Glen Savoie said public health nurses are scared for their jobs. He noted PCs received messages from about a dozen nurses about the changes to come.

“Nurse are being told, ‘Your job is being cut. You can either be redeployed or you can take a layoff,’” said Savoie, during question period on Friday.

“We can see that it is killing morale. It is creating chaos in the system.”

Health Minister Dr. John Dornan pushed back against the allegations of job cuts, saying the regional health authorities were taking opportunities to “put the right people, in the right place, at the right time.”

“One of the things that we are quite proud of is that we are not laying our nurses off,” said Dr. Dornan. “We always have a role for them in different areas of our hospital, emergency care, ICU.”

Dr. Dornan said staff would be moved to similar levels of seniority and work where possible, with retraining offered where needed.

When asked on Friday, the Department of Health didn’t provide specifics about any staffing or operational changes within the healthcare system.

The New Brunswick Nurses Union (NBNU) said it hadn’t received any official notification about nurse redeployments or ultimatums.

“When workforce adjustments are made, there is a process to be followed,” said NBNU president Paula Doucet, in a statement. “We will wait to get more information on this before making any comments about this labour relations matter.”

Premier Susan Holt said it was common during the pandemic for nurses to be redeployed to other roles.

“We’ve come in saying that we need different results in health,” said Holt to reporters on Friday. “New Brunswickers are demanding that they get timely access to care, that they get the primary care they need. Doing things the way we’ve always done them is not going to get better results for New Brunswickers.”

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