CEO Statement: Recruitment and Retention of Horizon Registered Nurses

The following statement has been issued by Margaret Melanson, Horizon’s President and CEO in response to recent media reports about registered nurse (RN) turnover in New Brunswick.

Horizon continues to achieve success in recruiting and retaining nurses. In August 2022, we had 4,068 Registered Nurses (RNs) working for Horizon; two years later, as of August 2024, we have 4,265 RNs.

This success is further evidenced by several indicators, including voluntary turnover. Voluntary turnover of Horizon RNs is steadily decreasing, with most vacancies being created by internal movement and career progression. As of August 2024, our voluntary turnover rates of RNs was 6.2%, which is a 3.8 percentage point reduction from August 2022 — a marked improvement.

We’re committed to prioritizing the retention of nurses through meaningful retention initiatives, by listening and acting on feedback, focusing on recognition, health, safety and belonging, and providing opportunities for growth and development, which are in line with the Public Health Agency of Canada’s national toolkit for nursing retention. We also know staff are happier at work: we have various means of surveying our staff and physicians at different stages of their career, and what we’ve heard is that our people feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in working for Horizon and caring for people of New Brunswick.

In short, we are gaining new talent, they are staying with us and intend to grow their careers here.

We’ve also raised the bar in committing to openness, transparency, and accountability in our recruitment efforts. We regularly update our stakeholders on our successes and challenges, and anyone can easily view our recruitment progress at any time by accessing our public, online nursing recruitment dashboard.

Margaret Melanson, President and CEO, Horizon Health Network