PEI·NewThe president of the P.E.I. Nurses’ Union says she’s not surprised by a new report warning of a growing exodus of new nurses leaving the province’s health-care system. A new publication by the Montreal Economic Institute says 47 young nurses left the Island for every 100 who entered the profession in 2023. Union president says nobody is addressing issues that cause nurses to leaveWayne Thibodeau · CBC News · Posted: Oct 23, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour ago’It’s all about recruiting and trying to get people in here but nobody is addressing the issues that are in the workplaces that are resulting in nurses leaving,’ says Barbara Brookins, president of the P.E.I. Nurses’ Union. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)The president of the P.E.I. Nurses’ Union says she’s not surprised by a new report warning of a growing number of new nurses leaving the province’s health-care system.“Unfortunately, we have a health authority right now that’s entirely focused on recruitment,” said Barbara Brookins, who spoke to CBC News on Wednesday during a professional development day held in Summerside for 100 Island nurses.”It’s all about recruiting and trying to get people in here but nobody is addressing the issues that are in the workplaces that are resulting in nurses leaving.”A new report by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), a non-profit research group, measured the ratio of how many nurses under the age of 35 entered the profession compared to how many left on an annual basis.According to the report, 47 young nurses left the P.E.I. health-care system for every 100 who entered the profession in 2023 — a higher rate than the national average where 40 young nurses left the workforce for every 100 nurses who registered that same year. P.E.I. Nurses’ Union president Barbara Brookins, left, and retired nurse Zellah Johnston say they worry the province isn’t focused on retaining employees once they enter the workforce. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)“There’s a lot of struggles with work-life balance, staffing, scheduling, ensuring that they have adequate staffing,” Brookins said. “Our members are getting overburdened, I guess, with the workloads that they have and not feeling that they have the resources in place.”She said nurses are also experiencing an increase in violence in the workplace, which adds to feelings of being overburdened. Nursing vacancies going upAccording to MEI, nursing job vacancies tripled in the five years presented in its publication, jumping from just over 13,000 in 2018 to nearly 42,000 in 2023. The group used the most recent data from the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI) to come up with its numbers. Renaud Brossard, vice-president of communications at MEI, said there are steps that can be taken to make it easier for struggling nurses. “We’ve heard about it a lot, the numbers confirm it, young nurses are being burnt out faster than ever,” he said.Renaud Brossard, vice-president of communications at MEI, says there are steps that can be taken to make it easier for struggling nurses. (TIMCHIN Photography)Brossard said health authorities should look to British Columbia for solutions, a province that turned its numbers around from the worst in the country to the best.“What B.C. did is it improved flexibility for workers,” he said.One strategy that province is using is the creation of job-swapping pools, a system that allows small groups of nurses who are assigned involuntary overtime to trade or swap shifts among themselves without having to go through management, Brossard said. Zellah Johnston, a registered nurse on P.E.I. for 48 years, said she’s “terrified” for the future of nursing and the health-care system.“It’s not the profession that I went into 48 or 49 years ago, and I’m at the stage now in my life where I’m going to be actually laying in that bed at some point in time,” said Johnston.“I want qualified, comfortable nurses who are respected not only by Islanders but by their employer, by their facilities, and I want them to be comfortable and knowledgeable and be able to care for me.” Our members will continue to leave until things get better, and unfortunately it’s our health system that’s going to bear the price.- Barbara Brookins, P.E.I. Nurses’ UnionJohnston spent the last 15 years training and mentoring new nurses. She retired in March, but she’s now back working as a casual.She said new nurses lack the support and mentorship they need to stay in the system. “When they come in to us first, they’re excited about the nursing profession, they’re excited about what they are going to do,” she said. “But you very quickly see that disintegrate…. They get to the point where they get disenfranchised very quickly because of the working conditions and the staffing.”Brookins said losing young nurses is having a huge impact on care — and she points the finger directly at Health P.E.I. “We’re struggling, we push ourselves to the brink. We come in on our days off, because we don’t want our co-workers to be running short, but then that takes a toll on our own health,” she said. “Our members will continue to leave until things get better, and unfortunately it’s our health system that’s going to bear the price.” CBC News reached out to Health P.E.I. for comment but a spokesperson said they were not able to provide a response by deadline. ABOUT THE AUTHORWayne Thibodeau is a video journalist with CBC Prince Edward Island. He has spent the last two decades working in various newsroom roles. In addition to being a multi-platform journalist, Wayne can be heard reading the news on The World This Hour, anchoring the breaking news desk on CBC News Network, hosting Island Morning and Mainstreet and reporting for CBC News: Compass. You can reach Wayne at Wayne.Thibodeau@cbc.caFollow @JWayneCBC on X
Growing number of new nurses leaving P.E.I.s health-care system, report suggests
