Nurses, universities angered by government plan

ERIC SMITH | An announcement by the Quebec government that it is planning to change the education requirements for nurses provoked an angry response from university-based nursing programs across the province. The ministries of Health and Education announced jointly that starting in 2002, a CEGEP diploma would be required to enter the nursing profession. University programs would be for those nurses who "wish to perfect their skills or specialize." If implemented, the plan would have a disastrous effect not only on BSc programs in nursing but on the profession as a whole, according to speakers at a press conference last week. Among those denouncing the plan were McGill Principal Bernard Shapiro, Université de Montréal rector René Simard and dean of medicine Patrick Vinay, as well as the directors of both universities' nursing schools and the directors of nursing of the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal and the Royal Victoria Hospital. McGill's program would be particularly hard hit, according to Laurie Gottlieb, Director of the School of Nursing and Associate Dean in the Faculty of Medicine. "Many students coming out of a Nursing DEC have not been attracted to McGill," she said. Its emphasis on core science and its full-time structure make the program less attractive to nurses who already have professional accreditation at the CEGEP level. But McGill's program does draw students with an academic vocation as well as a commitment to the nursing profession. Students who follow the academic CEGEP course in Health Sciences, as opposed to the professional program in Nursing, are candidates for the McGill program. The School also recruits undergraduate students from other McGill programs. Under the government's plan these students would have to return to CEGEP after completing their BSc to become a qualified nurse in Quebec. There are signs the government is hearing the message. Education Minister Pauline Marois, in response to a letter from Shapiro on behalf of CREPUQ, promised to consult universities before any implementation. "I am both angry and grateful," said Shapiro. "Angry because the situation in Quebec universities as a whole is fragile enough without another bolt from the blue. I am grateful to Minister Marois for her very prompt reply to my letter." "There seems to be a little softening," said Gottlieb. "They hadn't considered all the implications of this decision." The plan came as a surprise to university nurses, partly because on many other questions they share with the government a vision of the direction health services should take in the province. The "virage ambulatoire" currently under way means the health system will need more nurses and better trained nurses to take on new roles in care outside the hospital setting. "The virage ambulatoire requires nurses who have flexibility," says Gottlieb. "We need to be training thinkers, to invest our money in brain resources. Nurses are the backbone of the whole health care system." And at a time when budget cutbacks have meant layoffs for many nurses, there is no shortage of demand for university-trained nurses. "All our students have two, three, four job offers this year," she says. Hospital administrators at last week's press conference concurred, insisting that changes in the health system mean hospitals will keep needing more nurses with bachelor's and master's degrees. But beyond the practical objections to the plan, nurses who spoke out last week said they are angry at what they perceive to be a devaluation of their profession. In a release, nursing professors from the Université de Montréal stated: "It is with consternation that we learn the Quebec government is announcing that within five years police officers will need a university education, while it is closing the door to initial education at universities for nurses. Is this not a flagrant example of incoherence, of a double standard, and of contempt for women: nurses go back to CEGEP and police officers enroll in university?"