The New Brunswick government is looking overseas to ease the workload of the current roster of nurses.

Health Minister Michael Murphy said he is determined to find more nurses for the province, so he is meeting with other groups to look for solutions to the problem, including luring foreign-trained nurses.

"Nurses in New Brunswick are by and large incredibly dedicated, they are the backbone of health care. We think that we need some more," he said.

Department of Health officials met with the Nurses Association of New Brunswick, the accreditation body, this week to develop a plan that could open the door to more internationally trained nurses working in local hospitals.

"There may be some opportunities for foreign-trained nurses to be fast-tracked, I'm just waiting for the association to get back to me," Murphy said.

Roxanne Tarjan, the association's executive director, said she hopes the project being developed becomes a sustainable source of new nurses for New Brunswick.

"We believe that it's based on sound principles, it's a quality program," she said.

Fight will continue

The meeting between the Health Department and the nurses' association comes only days after Heather Rogers, a New Brunswicker who is living in Great Britain, was told she could not be accredited in the province. The problem revolves around the fact Rogers was trained in Great Britain as a specialist in pediatrics and children's nursing.

Canadian-trained nurses are generalists and so Rogers has been told that she would need to take new courses such as adult psychiatry and maternity before she could transfer to New Brunswick.

Rogers said she will continue the fight to get her qualifications recognized when she returns home next year.

Addressing the need for nurses is a central focus in the labour fight between the provincial government and the New Brunswick Nurses Union.

One of the sticking points is compensation for nurses working long overtime shifts and weekends.

Marilyn Quinn, the union president, has said throughout the contract talks that nurses are leaving the province because of long working hours.

The union and the Department of Health have agreed to examine issues of retention and recruitment of nurses in the new contract.