Hello!

Janfrn is your woman.

Edmonton is home to the Stollery located at the University of Alberta. There is a children's unit at the RAH, also located in Edmonton (does mostly day surgeries and psych) and I can honestly say I've only seen one job posted there in the last three years. Sturgeon Hospital in St. Albert also has a small unit and the last time I was out there, it was the same staff as who looked after my son in 1998.

So I would say there is more opportunity at the Stollery. I believe that most are on 12 hour shifts (but having said that there are 4 and 8 hour positions out there)

Calgary also has a large Children's Hospital.

I've lived in both cities and by far Edmonton is the friendliest. House prices have risen hugely in the last five years in both cities. Rentals are scarce and expensive. Get Jan started on taxes and user fees. (reminds me, today is garbage day, better get those cans out).

Up here in Edmonton there is snow on the ground about six months of the year. The end of January/start of February is the worst for cold weather.


Can't think of too much else. But Jan will be around sometime and tell you what she thinks.

Depends on where in the UK you live. You'll get more house and land than you would over there.

Here's an idea of how prices have gone up. The house we currently own (well the bank has a share) cost us $216K three years ago. In 1996, the same house was $125K, this year $459K. The market is nuts. We live in the dread 'burbs with a front attached garage, in a four level split.

So by UK standards it's a steal. (yup, I watch all the property developer type shows). But then you have to factor in utility (gas, electric, water, garbage) bills of $400+ a month, property taxes of around $190/month. Car payments and whatever else. It all adds up.

I'm not sure you want to know what Jan thinks...

The Stollery is doing amazing things and it has the potential to be a fantastic place to work. The nurses are, on the whole, a top notch group. I know there are staffing holes on every single unit in the hospital, but I'd tread warily before applying to the areas with the largest numbers of posted jobs. There's a reason why there are so many vacancies... But back to the good things. We have a world-class roster of highly-respected surgeons and specialists in many areas. Vivek Mehta and Keith Aronyk are two of the most amazing neurosurgeons I've ever seen. Ivan Rebeyka and David Ross do incredible things with hearts no bigger than plums. Patti Massicotte and her staff are on the forefront of pediatric thrombosis research and treatment. Paul Grundy and Kent Stobart are continually pushing back the frontiers of oncology; Maury Pinsk and Manjula Gowrishankar keep kids with renal disease healthy far longer than any of us would believe. We're affiliated with the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital where they work miracles with kids who should be severely handicapped but aren't. Our pediatric transport and ECLS teams are of the highest quality. But the hospital is underfunded, there are logistical and ancillary problems that need to be dealt with and the constant construction going on in and around the hospital is a major pain in the glutes!

Alberta Children's in Calgary is a brand new building, with all sorts of fabulous pretty baubles that you won't see at the Stollery. But they are having incredible problems staffing their beds and it doesn't look like they'll be solving that any time soon.

Like fiona59 said, the cost of living is a huge factor when it comes to moving to Alberta. When I moved here five years ago, it was a little higher than in Winnipeg but it was manageable. Now... not so much. I learned last night that our PICU had hired 4 very experienced full time nurses from down east last fall who all had to withdraw their acceptance because they coudn't afford housing. My little 50 year old <1000 sq ft bungalow was purchased in 2002 for $160K, and just recently the house next door, which isn't quite as nicely renovated, sold for $330K. Our property taxes have increased about 25% in five and a half years. My last hydro bill was $138, and my January natural gas bill was $144... we've reinsulated the whole house, put in new windows, doors and a more efficient furnace and only heat the house in the early morning and evening.

Of course, if you're coming from an area of the UK where two-bedroom third-floor walk-ups sell for 500,000 pounds and you've got a nice equity, you won't be too worried about property costs. If your boyfriend is in a position to work in a highly paid field, you'll be fine. You won't have any trouble getting hired at whichever hospital you choose once your registration is complete. Maybe we'll have coffee...