Short staffing/hiring freeze at AHS affecting morale?

Jasmine29 · Apr 11, 2013

You would not think there is freeze by all the postings on the website...i have applied to many lpn postings and am even a former employee who left to move back home and all I get are rejection letters saying they have hired someone else. I have all the qualifications except the provincial lisence which I would obtain no problem if I had an offer.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Apr 11, 2013

You can never tell by the number of postings on any site. Quite often, postings are up but administration has no intention of filling most of them.

We've received the memos shortly after the budget was announced in March to expect a hiring freeze. Unfortunately, all that's happening is shifting around at AHS right now.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Apr 13, 2013

The only units that are actually filling vacancies are in critical care and then only full-time positions. They're being allowed to fill vacancies because they have such high vacancy rates that they're endangering high-profile programs. Their OT is staggering and they generally have a bad reputation so few internal applicants are interested. The impact of short-staffing on morale (among other issues, of course) is significant. Who wants to stay awake half the night dreading the next shift?

joanna73, BSN, RN · Apr 13, 2013

What gets me are the recent articles re: the push to force more nurses to work full time.

First of all, AHS can never seem to make up their mind on this issue, and for years the vacancies were part time, their doing. Now many nurses choose not to work full time, myself included. AHS can and will do whatever they like....but the staff will also. Many people will not work 100 percent FTE's despite what AHS wants.

Fiona59 · Apr 13, 2013

See this is what I don't understand. I know three people who have request to have their FTEs increased. They've all been turned down with "it's not in the budget". This is despite their unit having casuals constantly on the floor and these aren't float pool casuals with FTEs.

There is a huge amount of game playng right now in AHS and nobody knows what management is up to.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Apr 13, 2013

Apparently, AHS intends to try to increase FTE's over the next few years. However, who really knows? They say one thing and do the opposite. Casual and part time will never disappear.

Game playing is right.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Apr 13, 2013

They're up to no good, that's for sure!

lilaclover6984 · Apr 13, 2013

Yeah, did you guys get those surveys they sent out a little while back to all the part time people? Trying to figure out why people want to work part time.

I can tell you there is noooooo way I would want to work a minute more than my 0.7 fte right now. The morale is the pits and I dread going there every day.

Fiona59 · Apr 13, 2013

I remember doing a survey.

The one I got had quite a few questions on daycare on it. Would I use on site childcare, uhm, my children are adults. There was no "not applicable" box to mark.

At my age, I don't want to work full time. Not even to boost up my miniscule pension. I'd be happy to be a .6 or.7 but no more. The patients are so needy and dare I say it whiny. I no longer work on a unit where it's life or death, it's all elective. Factor in the over involved adult children and the ego tripping specialists and there are days it's a living hell, despite many other units thinking my unit is shangrila.

The survey didn't even have a give us your opinion area.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Apr 13, 2013

Same here. I'm working full time at the moment, and not by choice. The last 7 months we have been so short, since we are already a skeleton crew and people resigned.

Technically, I'm a .84, but it ends up much more than that. I'm looking to move and work a .75 maximum, then pick up one or two shifts here and there. Full time is not worth it, and you end up paying more taxes.