B.C. nurses agreement has nurse-to-patient ratio

VICTORIA - British Columbia will become the first Canadian province to adopt a nurse-to-patient ratio as part of its plan to improve workload standards in public health.

The move is a key plank in the tentative contract reached between the province and the Nurses Bargaining Association last week.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says setting a nurse-to-patient ratio is "the leading international practice" for retaining nurses and delivering quality health care.

Dix says the government will also work with the B.C. Nurses' Union on a "national and international" recruitment plan, backed by $750 million in new funding over the next three years.

Premier David Eby says the new nurse-to-patient model will transform the way people are cared for and allow nurses to do what they do best.

Nurses union president Aman Grewal says the change will not only help a strained and understaffed health-care system retain nurses, but will also improve patient outcomes.

The 48,000 members of the B.C. Nurses' Union will start to vote on the new agreement on April 20.