tell me about camrose alberta

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Oct 13, 2011

Bethany is covered by the same collective agreements as most of the rest of the province. Wages and benefits will thus be the same as Edmonton or Calgary, where the cost of living is MUCH higher! Bethany is, of course, a long-term care centre with very significant nurse-patient ratios. During your interview, pin them down on their staffing matrix and what they do about sick calls. LPNs in Alberta work to the full scope of practice and you would be supervising and delegating to HCAs.

Camrose is a beautiful small city/large town (depending on your perspective :smokin: ). It has good amenities and is close enough to Edmonton that should you really crave the urban experience, it can be yours. If you're a country music fan, the largest country music festival in Canada, Big Valley Jamboree, is held in Camrose the beginning of August annually. My parents were thinking of moving to Camrose a few years ago, but my sister's illness in the end prevented them from doing it.

Fiona59 · Oct 13, 2011

http://www.aupe.org/my-union/health-care/health-care-collective-agreements/

Collective Agreement is here. Expires next March.

Trishrpn80 · Oct 13, 2011

Thank you both...

I am not worried about the size of camrose... it is 8x bigger than where i am now... :lol2:

Trishrpn80 · Oct 21, 2011

Ok so i did my phone interview and i have a few questions that came up and i really just want info...

1. The company states no relocation assistance because I am an LPN not an RN... so is this a common practice in Alberta??? (basically are any companies going to help with relocation as an LPN? or is it just an RN thing... )

2. Is Camrose a safe community? good schools? etc

3. Any positive and negatives for Bethany Group?? They are not helping with relocation but they want a 1 yr contract of service... I keep applying to Alberta Health Sciences and no response so i am getting discouraged...

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Oct 21, 2011

Relocation isn't typically provided for anybody these days.

Camrose is quite safe. As for schools, a friend of mine has had five kids in the Battle River School Division schools in Camrose with no complaints. There are three K-6 schools, a junior high school and a high school right in Camrose. The schools offer a variety of programs and extracurricular activities.

Alberta Health Services is undergoing another big shift in human resources administration with the migration of all the payroll/benefits/HR management departments to the single-service ePeople system, so things are being put on the back burner if they aren't involved with that. Because of the workload created by this migration they don't want to have to make any changes that aren't absolutely essential until the whole system is up and running... and that means hiring new staff members. Everyone in HR is too busy doing the work to make the migration to do their "real" work. I interviewed for a new position four months ago already and still haven't gotten a letter from HR telling me I didn't get the job - something that is a contractual obligation. So I'm not surprised that you aren't hearing back from them. Sorry. What I'd advise is to take the job with Bethany, make the one year commitment and once you're settled in Alberta, start looking again. That is, if you're committed to moving to Alberta, no matter what.

Fiona59 · Oct 21, 2011

The days of relocation and signing bonuses are long gone.

Jan, around RAH it's referred to as a "hiring chill".

Jen Ring · Oct 21, 2011

Wow congrats on the job interviews. I think Cambrose is a good place to raise a family, although it depends on how big of a place you're used to living. Good luck on deciding!

Trishrpn80 · Oct 22, 2011

Thanks your info is a lot of help.

I wanted to make sure that i wasnt losing out with 1 company. I figured relocation assistance wouldnt be offered but i wanted to be sure.

Bethany group just emailed me for references and background check. They said they wouldnt do a face to face interview but another telephone interview to make the choice.

That makes me nervous but i know healthcare all over is tight on $$$

Thevplus is that this is a ft position and those are few and far between in ontario

Trishrpn80 · Oct 22, 2011

Wow congrats on the job interviews. I think Cambrose is a good place to raise a family, although it depends on how big of a place you're used to living. Good luck on deciding!

I live in a town of 2000 so camrose is 8x bigger lol

We r 1 hr from any city over 50,000 ppl

Trishrpn80 · Oct 27, 2011

Ok so now I have a predicament...

So i accepted another position in ontario for a part time position because alberta said no to relocation costs...

Well tonight they finally got a hold of me after trying for days but i was studying... and i had sent them an email telling them i accepted another position...

well tonight they offered me relocation assistance and said they would give us a room at one of the homes for my daughter and I so can start working and not have to worry about spending $$$ on a hotel to start...

So now i am so perplexed... It is a FT position with benefits...

After they said no to relocation on the phone interview i chopped alberta out of running for a couple of yrs until i got more $$$ saved for relocation... now they are back in and i don't know what to think...

As an LPN not many places offer relocation... and they want to support my finishing my degree at Athabasca.....

Man this is sooo hard... i have until monday to give her an answer....

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Oct 27, 2011

It sounds like a great opportunity for you, Trish. If they'll put all that in writing, it would be awfully hard to turn down. You don't owe anything to the employer in Ontario, since you haven't actually started the job. They'll have someone else on their list they can put into that part time position. Put on a pot of coffee and prepare for a sleepless night...