Quebec Health Minister Gaetan Barrette is reportedly meeting with the province's largest nurses' union this afternoon in the wake of reports about overworked and burnt-out nurses.
"I agree with all that has been said regarding the practice, conditions under which nurses and other professionals are working upon," said Barrette.
"I'm on their side, They're right about the overtime, the overworked, and so on. They're right."
But Barrette said there is no quick fix solution to hiring the number of nurses and nurses' aides they need - a problem, he added that seems to be worse in major urban cities.
"We are also in a situation where it is difficult to recruit because we don't have necessarily the manpower we would like to have," said Barrette.
Barrette said that's maybe five thousand more nurses. Barrette pointed out he has responded to the nurses' main demand to post more full-time jobs but they're having a hard time filling them.
Barrette said the current shortage of nurses' aides in seniors' homes also has a domino effect on nurses' work and that they need to look at how the shifts are managed as well.
"You can't find a solution like that out of the box," said Barrette, adding he is open to short term measures.
"What we need is a long term plan."