January 17, 2005: Canada: Ontario: Government announcement sanctions nursing layoffs:"While Health Minister George Smitherman announced $200 million in transitional funding today to help hospitals balance their budgets, he acknowledged that hospitals would be allowed to cut the equivalent of 757 full-time nurses. "The Minister is sanctioning hospitals to lay off nurses in the midst of a chronic nursing shortage - this despite his mantra to protect patient care," said Irmajean Bajnok, the acting director of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO). "How can you possibly protect patient care by laying off nurses? This will send a chill through the profession and send nurses packing, either to other jurisdictions or to other professions," she said."
http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archiv.../17/c3791.html

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Hmmmm . . .Massive nursing shortage on the way, and hospitals are laying off nurses to further cut costs, and it's being given a blessing by the Canadian government to do so?

What's wrong with this picture?

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursefriendly.com/news