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Discussion

Dear Alberta nurses...

Dear Alberta nurses! I need your advice.

I have been looking for a job at downtown Edmonton (preferably) since nursing school. Now I've graduated and had a few months of medsurg floating pool experience at a reputable downtown hospital in my province. I'm in the process of transferring my license to AB and applying to jobs in the meanwhile. I've applied to almost everything online but heard nothing back so far. Maybe because it's only been two weeks? but I really want to move back home to Edmonton ASAP *homesick* :(

Now miraculously I just received an offer from Emergency in my province and I'm just wondering if my chance to be hired by AHS/Covenant Health will be increased if I take this ED job? Should I take this ED job or stay with medsurg floating pool?

Any advice will be appreciated, I just want to find a job in Edmonton and be back home :cry:

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    Employment for external applicants with AHS is a VERY difficult proposition. Vacancies aren't being filled; some RN positions have been converted to LPN positions and lots of LPN positions have been converted to health care aide positions in an effort to save money. Not many units are hiring anyone without specialty experience. The human resources process is a long and convoluted one; even internal-to-the-unit applicants wait weeks to hear anything after a posting closes, so you're still a long way from possibly even having your application looked at.

    And "downtown" doesn't have a hospital. What used to be the Edmonton General is part LTC, part offices now. The Royal Alex is in the Kingsway/Blatchford area, the University Hospital is in Windsor Park/Garneau on the south side of the river. The Misericordia (Covenant Health, not AHS) is in West Edmonton, the Grey Nuns (also Covenant) is in Mill Woods and the Sturgeon is in St Albert.

    I think you would do well to take the ED position and work at it for awhile to get some experience. That's one area that will always need new blood, if you know what I mean. Northeast Health Centre, Strathcona Health Centre, Westview Health Centre and the yet-to-be-built southwest hospital all have urgent care capacity.

    Today the Edmonton Sun just issued the first of a series of investigative pieces on AHS' deficits. I have a feeling this will put a further damper on hiring.

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    I work in the inner city hospital. Outside hires are few and far between.

    AHS hiring is a long and slow process. My last move internally took 13 weeks from application to first shift.

    If you want to work Corrections that's probably the easiest way to get hired by AHS

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    • Author
    I work in the inner city hospital. Outside hires are few and far between.

    AHS hiring is a long and slow process. My last move internally took 13 weeks from application to first shift.

    If you want to work Corrections that's probably the easiest way to get hired by AHS

    There's so many job postings online and I don't even know if those postings are legit? Also do you think gaining emergency experience will help me in my application or should I stick with medsurg?

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    Every vacancy has to be posted due to regulations. They can be cancelled at any time. I've applied for a couple of jobs that were just cancelled and later found out they went to 'duty to accommodate' staff. Other times jobs just aren't filled as it's cheaper to put casuals or float pool staff in the line.

    Management can be very creative t o save money.

    Can't tell you what to do with your career, those have to be your decisions.

    I just know that staff are dreading the next election because we feel more cuts and privatization is coming

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    Interesting post about AHS long hiring process, I'm a new lpn graduate and have been applying nonstop and no interview yet. I handed in my resume to the unit manager of my preceptorship placement, hopefully I hear from him. As for the upcoming election and cuts we just have to wait and see:-)

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    • Author

    Dear nurses, thanks for your insight, and to be honest, after reading your responses I have become somewhat discouraged and it seems a very daunting task to get a job in Edmonton. However I am very eager to rejoin my husband as we have already been seperated for a few years.

    Could you please offer some advice on what I could do to increase my chances besides just blindly applying for almost every posting that I see? I can't see myself just applying and nothing happening for another year or even two. I am quite lost as to what's the next step, perhaps give up and just stay in my current province...

  • Quote
    Dear nurses, thanks for your insight, and to be honest, after reading your responses I have become somewhat discouraged and it seems a very daunting task to get a job in Edmonton. However I am very eager to rejoin my husband as we have already been seperated for a few years.

    Could you please offer some advice on what I could do to increase my chances besides just blindly applying for almost every posting that I see? I can't see myself just applying and nothing happening for another year or even two. I am quite lost as to what's the next step, perhaps give up and just stay in my current province...

    Forget AHS, apply to the private care homes/LTCs that are popping up all over the place.

    Apply to Corrections.

    If you truly want to be in Edmonton, AHS isn't the only game in town

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    Could you please offer some advice on what I could do to increase my chances besides just blindly applying for almost every posting that I see? I can't see myself just applying and nothing happening for another year or even two. I am quite lost as to what's the next step, perhaps give up and just stay in my current province...

    Honestly, blindly applying to every job on the board is literally what you have to do. As a new grad in Edmonton I literally applied for 100+ positions before getting an offer. Ended out getting a casual float position at the inner city hospital. Once there, I pretty easily secured a float line.

    I have more recently picked up a casual position in Dialysis - Within weeks of starting there they were literally throwing lines my way (which I turned down due to other commitments).

    It's all about getting your foot in the door. You are probably more likely to secure a casual line when starting within the system, so if you can't apply for EVERYTHING maybe focus on those. You can specify 'casual' in your search terms to filter out 'lines'.

    Good luck!

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    I agree with everyone above. And I hate to say this but sometimes but it helps to have connections with someone who works for AHS and can refer you to a hiring manager etc. Do you have any friends/neighbour that works for AHS that can refer you?

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    I agree with everyone above. And I hate to say this but sometimes but it helps to have connections with someone who works for AHS and can refer you to a hiring manager etc. Do you have any friends/neighbour that works for AHS that can refer you?

    AHS is strictly on line applications. The unit managers I work with just refer cold calls to apply on line. There aregrievances being filed constantly on lines that are filled. The new interview scoring map is a huge cause of disputes.

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    I've gotten a few positions at AHS through referrals/networking. I agree that it is online applications only but if the manager likes you then he/she will ask you to apply to the posting online. I know others who have also landed jobs because they have a friend moving to Alberta etc...but who knows maybe it only happens in Calgary.

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    Networking and having connections with someone that works at AHS is big in Calgary.

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