MONTREAL – Quebec nurses will not have to automatically obtain a university degree to work in hospitals in the province.

The order representing Quebec nurses asked the provincial government in June 2012 to make a baccalaureate in nursing mandatory for someone to practise the profession.

The proposal raised the ire of unions representing health workers as well as the Quebec federation of junior colleges.

In the end, the working group studying the order’s proposal failed to reach a consensus on the topic.

That means Quebec will not proceed with plans to make a university degree compulsory, said Health Minister Rejean Hebert.

”Yes, I think that’s the conclusion,” Hebert said in a telephone interview.

”There doesn’t seem to be much of a consensus on having a mandatory bachelor’s degree.”

There will be further analysis to determine which tasks should be performed by nurses with a university degree as opposed to work done by those with a college diploma.

”We’ve never done that kind of exercise to pinpoint how training programs should be modified or adjusted,” Hebert added.