Nursing in Nova Scotia vs. Alberta

loriangel14, RN · Jul 27, 2009

You would be better to post your question in the Canadian Forum.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Jul 27, 2009

Moved to the Canadian forum

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Jul 27, 2009

Hi, I work in the Kentville ED. I love it here, but haven't worked the floors. I've been here since January. I'll try to answer any questions.

Fiona59 · Jul 27, 2009

Well, Alberta Health Services in the middle of a hiring freeze. Do you know Duckit personally? Is so, he might approve your hiring...

rllong · Jul 27, 2009

Thanks canoehead, do you know if it is easy to get a job at kentville hospital because I know it is hard in Alberta right now due to the hiring freeze. I was also wondering if you knew if a lot of new grads worked at the hospital or if it was mainly more senior staff. Also do you enjoy living in the kenville area? Is there lots to do outside of work? Thanks again.

EdmontonAB · Jul 28, 2009

I have worked at the Kentville hospital casual as an LPN three years ago, so I may be able to help. I am now living in Edmonton but have not worked in any of the hosptitals here. The pay is lower in Kentville and the shift differential not as good but the cost of housing and rentals is a lot lower to. The kentville hospital is relatively small so the floors aren't divided up like they are in the city hospitals. The hospital is just two floors in height. The main floor has outpatient services, emergency, psych and offices, etc. The second floor was divided into med, surg, ICU, OBS and peds. So you really get a mix of everything. They added more beds to their surgery dept lately so I see that they are advertising 3 full-time positions in surg and 1 in med. There is also a $5000.00 grant through the gov't for moving allowance is you secure a full-time/part-time job in Nova Scotia. But you have to stay there for a year or pay it retroactively back if you leave. You might want to check into this I not sure if you can still apply but it was part of the NS recruitment strategy. When I was there a lot of new grads had recently started. Some of them seemed content and some not so much. You may want to go visit Kentville first, especially if you've never been there before, as it is a lot different from Calgary. The weather is also I lot different there with lots of snow and ice in the winters. The valley is really beautiful though especially in the spring, summer and fall. I tried to get on their web site but I'm unable to. The IWK (children's hospital) seems to have a lot of positions posted right now to, they are in Halifax. Hope this helps! Please let us know how you make out.