The president of the Registered Nurses' Union Newfoundland and Labrador weighs in on the ballooning cost of travel nurses working in NL

Through Access to Information, CBC recently learned that more than 90-million dollars was spent on travel nurses province-wide last year. Last month, the province's health minister announced that the auditor general is investigating travel nurse contracts signed by the former health authorities. Hundreds of travel nurses are working in the province, in many cases with all their expenses paid. They also make double the hourly rate that permanent staff nurses bring home. The minister said government needs to slash the number of temporary nurses because the cost is getting out of hand. Yvette Coffey is the president of the Registered Nurses' Union Newfoundland and Labrador.