Alberta Job Situation

[RepublicanNurse]

Hi Everyone,

I am having a difficult time finding a job in Calgary. I apply on the AHS website all the time for the jobs being posted. The only interview I had was because I called the unit I wanted to work on and I was given an interview. I do not know the outcome yet but I am hopeful.

I am looking for some advice. I want to work at Foothills hospital. What is the best way to get my foot in the door? I am an RN and a recent New Grad.

1. Applying through AHS?

2. Making phone calls to unit managers and asking if they are hiring casuals?

3. Physically going down to the hospital and hand out resumes to managers?

Thank you and I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Covenant Health has laid off many health care aides and LPNS in November. Although only a handful of FTE's were lost, more than 650 people have been affected by rotation changes.

AHS is continuing with "workforce transformation" and hiring freezes. Same everywhere due to lack of government funding. It's not fair, but it is reality.

OP you've come to ask the opinions of nurses who are currently working in the organizations you're interested in. I'm also a manager, and we all have no say in granting an interview if the applicant has not initially applied to an online posting.

Try applying EVERYWHERE if you want to work sooner rather than later. That includes small towns. Small towns have a greater need for nurses.

[renzlao, MSN, APRN]

I am actually looking into moving to a different city and Calgary is among the cities I am considering. I've been browsing at AHS almost every week to see nursing positions available. Reading the responses, I might actually just stay here for a while. I currently work in a busy downtown emergency room while finishing my specialty certificate in emergency nursing and TNCC. I think I will stay for at least 2 years in BC hoping the job market will improve in Alberta by then.

[ShirleyMc]

AHS is continuing with "workforce transformation" and hiring freezes. Same everywhere due to lack of government funding. It's not fair, but it is reality.

Joanna, I am wondering where you got this information from. Am also wondering about the Covenant health numbers you mentioned.

This is a genuine question as I am totally considering a big shift in career out of health care. I am almost done my Refresher, but if I can't get a decent job in health care, I might as well go back to school for something else, at least while I am waiting for a RN position.

I mean, it's not like I can even be considered for a post-graduate at U of A without the experience.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

I've received my information from various nurses within the last two months, all of them working for AHS. I'm also aware through Covenant Health as the same is happening. Covenant Health has been in the news recently.

The budget and lack of funding has been the topic of the day, especially since oil has plummeted. Jobs in AB are directly affected by the price of oil.

[Fiona59]

I work in AHS. I've heard about the Covenant lay-offs from my unions. AHS, well, we work there and we see what is happening. Sick calls not being replaced, people on vacation not having all of their shifts covered, the Premier announcing that that there will be a hiring freeze on government employees.

It's all out there in the open, you just have to watch the new, keep your ears open and don't believe a word about a rosy job situation that your instructors are giving you. We've had nursing instructors on units with students with less than four years work experience.

New grads when they are hired, are hired as casuals, so no guaranteed hours or into term positions to cover mat leaves, etc. When the hours dry up it's the casuals and temp employees that fee it first.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

I can speak to "workforce transformation". I'm a unit representative for UNA and get my information from UNA. The contract between UNA and the province spells out that any change made to numbers of nurses employed, nurses' hours of work and a variety of other conditions must be reported to the union before any changes are made. UNA also communicates regularly with AUPE and HSAA so as to be as informed as possible.

"Workforce transformation" covers a lot of ground. It includes altering the structure of staffing matrices on units whereby RNs are reduced and some of those positions filled by LPNs while at the same time many LPNs are reduced to be replaced by unregulated health care aides. Whereas a shift may formerly been staffed by 2 RNs, 3 LPNs and 5 HCAs, the shift may now be staffed by 2 LPNs and 8 HCAs.

Another aspect WFT encompasses is rotations. AHS* (plus any of its precedent agencies and Covenant) have tried many times to get around the terms of our collective agreements by changing the rotation and attempting to force employees into FTEs they were not hired for. Previous attempts to eliminate part time positions (which had been created by AHS* as a way of saving money on benefits) involved posting a new rotation with only full time lines, with the direction to staff members to select one of those lines or go work somewhere else. These efforts were met with great resistance from the unions and the unions were vindicated at arbitration. But AHS keeps trying it. Once again there are changes made to rotations that force employees to work more hours than they want to simply to keep their lights on. We had our rotations changed a year ago on my unit - it's a 24 week rotation that is impossible to memorize... I am in a temporary 0.5 FTE; my rotation is severely unbalanced where I may work full time hours for 3 weeks, then not at all for 2 weeks. I have regular stretches where I have only 2 shifts on my pay cheque two pay periods in a row. If I were single or my spouse was not working I'd have to pick up extra shifts at straight time to make ends meet - all part of their plan.

Some units, like the NICU at the Stollery, only have full time and 0.5 FTEs. Anyone who wants a different FTE is told to apply somewhere else, even when there are two people willing to combine their hours into - let's say - a 0.8 and 0.7. There is no interest in having a happy, healthy workforce.

[bradons]

Take a position outside of Calgary to get your foot in the door of AHS.

Or move.

[Fiona59]

Take a position outside of Calgary to get your foot in the door of AHS.

Or move.

Bradons: did you miss the post where OP told us not to tell them how to live their life? Doesn't appear to be open to suggestions

[dvsbec]

I work for AHS - a directive came out today from the powers that be that states there is no more money, so a hiring freeze is in place across the province. Any vacancies that come up have to be approved by the Senior Directors/VPs before they're allowed to be posted, so that alone could take weeks or months.

As for the workforce transformation, in my facility, no jobs were lost or eliminated. The intent was to create full time lines (optimize the workforce), however all part time positions that already exist were created from some of those full time lines.

To the OP - it is very hard to get an entry level position in the city. I'm not telling you how to live your life, however, you should be open to the possibilities of either working in an area such as LTC to gain experience, or look at smaller centres that find it hard to recruit. As for approaching managers - someone mentioned that managers have little say in who they hire. Untrue. I do all my own interviews and decide who I hire for my unit. However, there is very little I can do for someone who shows up at my door. While I appreciate their enthusiasm, they have to apply online like everyone else.

Lastly - don't believe everything on Alberta governments website regarding foreigners. No foreigner can get a work permit to work here unless the employer can prove that they were unable to fill the position with a Canadian. The changes made to the work permit program have made this much harder and more expensive for the employer. We are noticing it already in the city I live in - places like A&W and Tim Hortons are already losing their TFW and unable to replace them. Add to this the hiring freeze across the province, you'll see fewer and fewer TFW (and remember, not all "foreign looking" people are temp workers, so be careful about letting prejudices show!)

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Now that the price of oil has plummeted all sectors will be affected. In particular, the government is looking at the public sector. Tonight I was listening to the Premier on a radio newscast. I would not be surprised if AB implements a Provincial tax.

I work for Covenant Health and we have been informed that we need to closely monitor our budgets and cut costs, large and small.

[emsobs]

Hello,

I just graduated and I have been working in rural alberta as an GN casual, but 40+ hours a week. I applied to several postings, even ones I wasn't qualified for because even though you may not get that position many places are short staffed and need casuals. If you want to work in acute care, I would either apply where you finished your preceptorship, follow up your online application with a phone call where you want to work, or apply for jobs in smaller hospitals near where you live. Working at a smaller hospital will also lead to opportunities to get ER experience, Obstetrics experience, possibly OR experience and senority in AHS, making you more qualified to work in your area of choice.

[anna_91]

I wanted to come to Alberta when I graduate! Hope the oil prices will go back up by the time I'm ready, maybe there will be more jobs then. But im not surprised, Alberta nurses are by FAR the best paid in Canada so there will always be less of a shortage than elsewhere. In QC, we start at 26$/hr with a bachelor's and get way more taken away in taxes.