AHS Media Campaign

[Fiona59]

Sorry no links.

There have been ads in print and on the radio stating how in Alberta only 31% of nurses work full time and that Albertans deserve better. More full time nurses for better care, yada, yada. How there will always be a place for part time nurses.

So, AHS, why does my request for an increase to my FTE always get turned down????

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Where are all the nurses who have been laid off and all the new grads working, I'd be interested to know?

They're all working on my unit.

They also purposely delay posting positions, then expect people to work last minute overtime, which is insane.

Our OT is approved a month or more in advance. And we have a LOT of it. We get a calendar with the staffing numbers on it for both shifts so we can "choose" our extra shifts. But one has to be careful how one goes about signing up for those extra shifts - as I learned the hard way.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

The promotional videos re: transformation are online at work. I'm watching thinking, "You knew 25 years ago that the retirement of nurse and rhe aging population was going to present challenges. Everyone knows this. So why now are people being reactive? They'll lay off around a third of the workforce, and in the process alienate thousands of nurses. Brilliant.

The scary thing is, this "transformation" is happening globally. This is not just AHS. So what are we all supposed to do for health care, never mind the employment piece of it. I'll be worried the next time I'm in a hospital bed.

[SurroDoula]

I'm scared for two reasons - one is that my parents are aging, and it scares me that they might not get the nursing care they need when the inevitable health issues pop up. I can see myself spending all of my free time at the hospital to make sure that they are getting appropriate care.

Secondly, I'm graduating in April and I'm really worried that I spent the last 6 years working towards this degree for nothing. I'm in the Edmonton area, and I am thinking I will have to go rural to get a job, but the problem is my husband and family can't move with me (my husband has a business here and about 85% of his clients are in the area; it's not the kind of business that you can move elsewhere). I also feel completely unprepared for working in a unit that is restructured in this way.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Most likely, you will need to work rural if you want full time right now. With all this restructuring and layoffs, the jobs are not there. Aside from most rural facilities, AHS continues to reduce lines across the Province. Their goal is to have more people working full time, but that means getting rid of many part time lines.

It's a shame that no one is investing properly in nursing. Instead of reducing hours, they should be actively recruiting nurses. We will all face major issues as these trends continue. Nurses are retiring as well, but the expectation is that the current workforce should work even harder. Forget about replacing many of those vacancies, as we had expected. I'm glad I've got three years in. It's not much, but I'd hate to be a new grad right now.

I would suggest utilizing whatever contacts you may have to help you, but be prepared to leave the city or commute once you graduate.m Workforce transformation is in full force in all the major centres, and every other Province is doing essentially the same thing.

[SurroDoula]

I'm lucky that I have the freedom to work anything from casual to full time, and would actually PREFER what so many people seem to dislike, such as night shift. Unfortunately, most of my contacts are in Edmonton, so I'm not sure if they will be helpful or not.

[Valhalla_RN]

I just wanted to post some support for Alberta nurses - things are sounding really rough there right now. You are all in my thoughts!

[weemsp]

NO ONE!!! I don't even like working with them...they are tired, intolerant and no long show compassion or tenderness!!