The province of Quebec may lose up to 10,054 registered nurses after the Quebec Order of Nurses (QIIQ) announced they will suspend the practice permits of all unvaccinated staff.
According to QIIQ president Luc Mathieu, 4,338 of the nurses his organization represents have not been adequately vaccinated, while 5,716 have yet to verify their vaccination status.
Mathieu says that these suspensions will remain until nurses prove their vaccination status.
The decision to suspend the license of so many came after Health Minister Christian Dube reaffirmed his commitment to enforcing the October 15 vaccine mandate, despite protests from unvaccinated and conscientious nurses, as well as several unions.
Notably, the QIIQ has roughly 80,500 members, meaning this mass suspension will result in Quebec losing approximately 12 per cent of all nurses represented by the order.
Moreover, these are not the only health-care workers who may lose their ability to work in Quebec.
According to Dube, there are over 15,000 unvaccinated health-care workers, all of whom will be affected by the vaccine mandate.
Despite the expected chaos which will ensue, both Dube and Mathieu are steadfast in their decision, perhaps believing the loss of pay will be enough to twist the arms of hesitant nurses.
“The negative impact on seniority, for holidays, on pension plans — there are a lot of negatives that maybe people have not considered before saying ‘well, I’m taking a break,'” said Dube.
Regardless, the province, who have only just got a handle on the fourth wave, will likely feel the absence considerably over the coming week as nurses struggle with the choice of employment or medical coercion.
