Obtaining an RN job in a city in Canada directly after graduation

Silverdragon102, BSN · Apr 3, 2014

Moved to the Canadian forum

Suggest you read this forum and see that who ever you spoke to in Alberta Health was not telling you the truth. Jobs are not easy to get and as a new grad I think you will find it extremely hard to find a job

jgibeault · Apr 3, 2014

Why would you tell a current student that it will be extremely hard to find a job? My friend who's a 4th year hasn't graduated yet and was offered a full time position the other day which she is accepting.

Can you explain why it's so difficult to obtain a full time job when nursing is in demand? I have about 25 friends who are RNs and they all have jobs.. Just not in locations I'm interested in.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Apr 3, 2014

Try reading the threads in this forum on Alberta. It is hard to find jobs just not impossible. If a full time post is offered then it usually is offered internally first and goes by seniority. Many part time or casual nurses are looking for full time work so nurses with experience will trump a new grad. If your friend was offered a full time job then they have been very lucky.

Some threads to read

https://allnurses.com/nursing-in-canada/registered-nurse-job-903822.html

https://allnurses.com/nursing-in-canada/will-job-market-913274.html

https://allnurses.com/nursing-in-canada/unemployed-feel-like-910616.html

https://allnurses.com/nursing-in-canada/alberta-do-not-910900.html

jgibeault · Apr 3, 2014

Thanks, I just read a thread and see what you mean. I don't get why AB health would bs me though.

Fiona59 · Apr 3, 2014

Thanks, I just read a thread and see what you mean. I don't get why AB health would bs me though.

I work for AHS. Full time lines go internally. If they go to outside applicants the unit is a hell hole.

Local new grads are given priority for hiring. The govt has promised (almost yearly) to hire 70% of all graduating classes in the province. Most are hired as casuals. And from what I hear around my building there aren't a lot of hours right now.

Part timers who can't get full time lines are picking up shifts that used to go to the float pool/casuals.

AHS will tell you what you want to hear and unless you get it in writing it's not worth a thing.

Oh, and I might as well add the job markets in Toronto and Vancouver also for lack of a better word, suck.

jgibeault · Apr 3, 2014

I contacted AHS through email, so I guess it is in writing. They informed me of a program called candidate relationship management, and told me to contact them 60 days before I graduate, and that they would add me to the program? Ugh how stressful to see such crappy job prospects. Went through this already once before with my first degree. I don't personally know any RNs that arent working full time but maybe thats because of where I'm from. Many are casual but they get their hours and assure me that it won't be a problem. I still have a year and a half to go so maybe things will be a bit brighter by then, although I can't see expenditure on health care increasing.

jgibeault · Apr 3, 2014

Has anyone heard of the program I spoke of above?

Fiona59 · Apr 4, 2014

Nope and my unit only hires new grads as casuals. No guarantee of hours.

aywl · Apr 4, 2014

In our unit, the new grad always get full time position even if experienced nurse who has 20 years experience applying for it, seniority kill them;

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Apr 4, 2014

Part of the issue in Alberta is that there's a huge disconnect between clinical and administrative. The people actually providing health care are seeing vacant positions going unfilled, sick calls not being replaced and an ever-increasing workload, as well as the so-called workforce transformation model being brought out of mothballs once again. Because of budget constraints and increasing demand for services, the main goal of AHS is to provide the minimum amount of care by the least-costly provider. In this bean-counting exercise, the patient is merely a number and the only factors being considered are those in the here-and-now. How can we get this patient treated and discharged in the shortest amount of time with the least amount of professional care? No thought is given to readmission rates or other such nebulous concepts. AHS has been shown to have a plan in place to "reduce the head count" of licensed staff on all units across the province accept for maybe 2 or three. So how can they hire new staff AND "reduce the head count" at the same time?

It's been proven time and again that applying a business model to health care is doomed to fail, but every decade or so, we have to try it to see if this time we'll have different results. The people with the power in health care are quite insulated from the real nitty-gritty on the front lines. They don't see the direct results of their decisions because there are so many layers of lower-level admins below them on the org chart that filter things to protect their own positions. And in the end, there's no effort made to put two and two together and see that lengths of stay, ICU readmissions, hospital readmissions, increased morbidity and staff burnout are all pieces of the same puzzle. And Alberta isn't the only province implementing this workforce transformation model, either. Ontario, BC and at least one of the Maritime provinces have or will be instituting the model imminently.

HR personnel, which is who would have responded to your email, have no clue what goes on in the real world. They see the number of postings on the website and conclude that nurses are in demand. What the don't see, because they don't follow the breadcrumbs, is that many of those positions are casual, or very short-term temporary positions. They also don't see that many of the positions aren't filled. They've been posted according to the collective agreement's terms... which say that vacancies must be posted... but don't say they actually have to put someone on the floor. It's all a shell game.

jgibeault · Apr 4, 2014

Yeah I fully understand the concept that our economy is crap and health care is the first to go. Im ok with casual, temporary or anything for that matter just to get my foot in the door. Positions are available I guess I have to do something to stand out from the crowd in an exceptional way. If it comes down to choosing somewhere more rural I might just go as rural as I can and make as much money as possible while settling for a non ideal spot like fort Mac, up north or Labrador. The colder spots lol. There aren't many job posting online at all right now for AHS new grads.

I dunno I feel reading through the threads there is a lot of talk about the impossibility of getting a job, yet 99% of people responding currently have an RN job. Not to mention the many RNs I know that have jobs. I do appreciate the advice and your probably right but I am hopeful regardless.