BC- New Grad RN

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Apr 16, 2017

There's a significant disconnect between those whose role it is to analyze data and those whose role it is to manage the health care workforce. That quote from RNAO has been kicking around for a decade and is no more true now than it was then... in the sense that there are huge numbers of vacant nursing jobs. There are not. When a data set, such as "number of registered nurses per 100,000 people" with a comparison to other "industrialized" nations are used to promote nursing education, it creates an impression that there is a desperate need. But in reality, the numbers the governments responsible for the administration of health care care about all have $$ in front of them. When health care administrators are told they have to reduce spending, it's much easier to simply decrease the number of people to whom they pay salaries. And rather than reduce waste in management salaries they'll go for the group with largest numbers, who make the most money. Registered nurses. Where collective agreements demand vacancies be posted, there's no extension of that demand to the position actually being filled. So positions are vacant only on paper in this scenario, because there is no intention of hiring anyone to do that job. And because nursing isn't just a series of tasks, but is actually "brain" work, the devaluation of our jobs is significant. The notion that for the price of 2 RNs a facility can hire 2 LPNs and a HCA, therefore getting the "work" of 3 for the cost of 2, is a win in the ledger. Health care human resources seem to follow a roughly 12-15 year cycle of boom and bust, closely following the nation's economy. Right now, we're pretty much at the nadir and have plateaued. How long it will continue is anybody's guess. To make a short story long, I'd advise you to listen to those who are actually looking for work, rather than those whose view of the situation is largely academic.

babyfriendly · Apr 19, 2017

If you google BCIT graduation survey you can see some numbers. The most recent one was published in 2016 and has data from 2015.

100% of the survey respondents who graduated from the BSN program were employed.

(response rate was 41% so not great but otoh, it seems to me people who were struggling and mad about their circumstances are more likely to report on these anonymous surveys).

My sense is BC is still ok - growing population, economy doing ok. If we get an NDP gov't, expect even more investment in health care in the coming years.

I think the vast vast majority will find work. It might not be their ideal position in their ideal unit, they might need to move, but I think in BC it's still a good occupation decision.