(Montreal) The Order of Nurses of Quebec is launching a campaign to promote the profession, “more than arms”, in a context where many are leaving the public network, exhausted or discouraged.
In its campaign, the professional order recalls that nurses are not only “arms”, as in the expression “we lack arms”, but that they have scientific knowledge in addition to benevolence, as well than expertise that is not yet fully utilized.
The Order advocates in the same breath for the role of nurses in access to front-line care. This access “cannot rest solely on the shoulders of a single professional, in this case the general practitioner,” he asserts in his campaign.
The OIIQ takes the opportunity to correct certain “myths”, such as that of the “shortage” of nurses, which it presents rather as a “felt shortage”.
“We have never had so many nurses. The problem stems from the underutilization of their expertise,” the campaign says.
“The challenge is therefore no longer to have access to a family doctor, but to a family team in which the nurse plays a central role. »
According to the most recent statement of March 31, 2022, 82,271 members were registered on the roll of the Order. And 68.4% worked full time, “the highest rate reached for 20 years”, underlines the OIIQ.
Quebec then had 7.7 nurses in direct care per 1000 inhabitants compared to 7.3 10 years ago.
In its campaign, the Order emphasizes that “the key issue of the health system is based on the organization of care, which must be reviewed for a more efficient health system”.
The organization of care must precisely be addressed in the context of negotiations for the renewal of collective agreements, which will begin in the coming days between the Government of Quebec and the FIQ (Interprofessional Health Federation, which represents the majority of nurses). Minister Christian Dubé’s Health Plan also addresses this issue from different angles.