Ontario to Alberta LPN

joanna73, BSN, RN · Mar 20, 2014

There are many recent threads in the Canadian forum about working in Alberta. Not to disappoint you, but positions are slim for nurses throughout the Province, particularly in any of the cities. It's been this way for two years and not likely to improve.

You need to start by applying with the CLPNA for your license which takes anywhere from 7 weeks- three months. Employers will not hire you without your license and many employers do not want to interview unless you're at least halfway through the entire process. There are hundreds of local applicants.

You will be able to find work in the small towns if you're flexible, since many small towns and rural areas need nurses. However, rural life is not ideal for some new grads.

I am an RN, educated and licensed in ON. I applied and received my license within 8 weeks, but that was almost four years ago. The market is highly competitive now for RNs and LPNs.

Anna1991 · May 6, 2014

Hey, you know I see a lot of comments here that nurses cant get jobs in Alberta and that it's really bad right now. But when I look at the amount of postings on AHS's website there are at least 5 new postings a day in Edmonton so it looks really good to me . I was wondering tho, can you have 2 part-time jobs say a .4 and a .6? I'm a relatively new grad and I dunno how it works. Thanks guys

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · May 6, 2014

AHS has to post vacancies - it's in the collective agreement they have with the unions. That doesn't mean they will be filling them. And believe it when we tell you that there are lots of internal applicants for almost every urban position posted. The new crop of grads will be applying on the postings up right now as well. The other thing you need to know is that very few of those postings are for permanent full time positions - they're mostly small part time and casual postings. In answer to your other question, you can only hold one position with AHS, regardless of the FTE. You can work casually on other units or for a private for-profit nursing home or in a cosmetic surgery clinic though.

Fiona59 · May 6, 2014

in theory you can have several part time FTEs. Having said that you must be contract compliant in all ways. 15.5 hours between shifts. Neither unit is obligated to switch shifts for you if there are schedule conflicts, you might get lucky and have a coworker who will do mutual for a while.

You would be far better served by getting one fte and picking up extra shifts on your unit or going through your services float pool for extra hours.

Right now, it looks good but there are jobs up there that I have seen posted upto four times in the last year. The full time post partum lines will more than likely go to part timers on the unit. The Fertility Clinic? Posted every couple of months, issues on that unit are known about all over RAH.

Last time my unit posted a full time line, there were over 60 internal applicants.

The Remand and Fort Sask. Correctional are always hiring for a reason.

You need to listen to what your coworkers know about units and decide how strong your BS tolerance level is.

Fiona59 · May 6, 2014

Jan, AUPE members can hold multiple part time FTEs as long as they don't exceed 1.0. Most managers won't hire you though for a second line because of scheduling conflicts. We all know there are 4, 8, and 12 week rotations out there.

Anna1991 · May 8, 2014

Ok thanks for the info...Well it's pretty depressing now, but I hear these job shortages and cut-backs go in waves. :rolleyes: Also,I'm not planning on applying now, I'm just looking at the situation in all the provinces.

And having 2 part time jobs seems complicated, although I know some nurses who manage somehow...

Oh and one last question. When it says "temporary" on a job posting, how long is that usually? Around a year or less?

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · May 8, 2014

Temporary position postings with AHS will always have the start date and end date right in the posting. I've seen some that were as short as 2 months and others that are slightly more than a year. It depends on why the vacancy exists. If I took a temporary position covering a mat leave, for example, that was to run one year and after 6 months in that job I decided to take a permanent position somewhere else, the temporary position would then be vacant again.