Thank you.
My name is Cynthia Baker. I'm the executive director of the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing.
I'd like to respectfully acknowledge that the CASN national office is located on unceded Algonquin territory.
Thank you for providing me with this opportunity to speak on behalf of our 95 member schools of nursing in Canada offering baccalaureate and/or graduate programs in nursing.
The CASN is the national voice for nursing education. We work to promote high-quality nursing education in every territory and province of Canada, in both official languages.
Personal care workers, practical nurses, psychiatric registered nurses, registered nurses and nurse practitioners are all important members of the nursing health care team.
As registered nurses form the largest group of health professionals in Canada, and as vacancy rates for this category of nurses are soaring across the country, I will focus my presentation on them.
COVID-19 has been filling hospital beds. The number of older adults requiring care is increasing, and experienced nurses are leaving the profession in large numbers. Schools of nursing in all provincial and territorial jurisdictions are responding to government demands to increase seats, open new sites and/or offer additional programs of nursing.
This follows a two-year period of repeated curricular disruptions with the pandemic shutting down—