knina

My manager says they expect to be informed soon about the details of the hiring freeze, but expect it to be more extreme than the hiring freezes of the last few years. I have heard that already employed casuals in Calgary aren't getting work because programs are no longer "augmenting" with casuals and are just covering sick calls.

No, we don't get paid for missed breaks. The manager says to take them. It seems that a "no-break culture" developed out of a situation of long-term under staffing. I've noticed that I feel resentful towards colleagues when they call in sick, when the real issue is under staffing. I never felt resentful towards sick colleagues at my last job -- they replaced. The impatience with newer or slower colleagues also seems to come out of long-term under staffing. There just isn't any leeway. I called UNA and felt better after talking to them.

I was lucky to get a .63 permanent part-time AHS RN job in Calgary and am able to pick up to full time, of which I am appreciative. The problem is exhaustion. I'm more tired than I have ever been in my life, even more so than when I was working my way through nursing school. On my unit we are expected to work without breaks, short staffed and be available to stay late if needed on a daily basis. I haven't worked even one day in which I got legally mandated breaks, worked in a fully staffed environment and knew what time I was getting off work. We do get paid OT if we work late, but since we are expected to be available after every shift if needed, we can never make appointments or plans after work. It's kind of like being on call every day without (of course) being paid for it. Also, the rotations aren't contract compliant so I don't really get two weekends off per month because I work a night shift on the Friday night of one of my weekends "off". Other than the working conditions, the position is a good opportunity and a good learning experience for me. I was hoping to get used to it, but I've been doing it for six months now and I'm always exhausted. I've stopped cooking, exercising and socializing since starting this job. I realize these working conditions aren't contract compliant, but how similar is this situation to the actuality of other people's jobs?

Nurses in Calgary (who have jobs and aren't applying there) tell me that there are lots of jobs at the new South Health Campus hospital and that jobs are going unfilled due to a lack of applicants. Has anyone tried to get a job there? It would be interesting to have a list of newly opening hospitals across the country and some knowledge of when the hiring surges occur in the opening process.

Any thoughts on why AHS would have laid off 200 home care nurses last year and coincidentally started a community paramedic program? It sounds like they are doing home care nursing to me. See below for the article: Program brings care to Calgary seniors, prevents ED visits December 16, 2013 http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/9469.asp

People who don't work in or follow health care trends tend not to know what's going on. Most Canadians think that the "nursing shortage" means that that demand for nurses is greater than supply of nurses. It really means that there aren't 'enough' nurses because provincial health care providers don't want to hire them. Quebec is currently making it easier for internationally educated nurses to immigrate there -- that's the only province that I've heard is recruiting. It's very, very difficult to get a job in Toronto, even for experienced Canadian nurses.

Note that the document posted by UNA refers to Phase 1 of Staff Scheduling Transformation, and only comprises a couple of units at each site listed. More to come. It would be interesting to hear from people who work on one of the units listed as to how the process is happening so far.

You would be lucky to be a able to be a student nurse on a unit you would like to work on! Or any other unit for that matter. That's weird advice from some other employment era. Nurses hardly get any orientation anyway.

I didn't hear anything about how lay offs will work. UNA has recently been making reference to AHS lawyers suppressing information about planned lay offs -- this is likely what they are referring to. I got this information from the charge nurse when I went to work yesterday. He got it directly from the unit manager.

The media campaign is PR paving the way for a planned "staffing optimization" in 2014. This is what I heard on a unit over the weekend, coming from a management source: AHS has hired a private consulting firm to optimize staffing in 2014. This will happen not by increasing the FTEs of those who wish to work full time, but rather through lay offs and rehiring. They are aiming for 70% of nurses to be working full time at the end of the process. This means that nurses will have to compete with each other to get rehired for fewer lines. There will also be fewer nursing jobs overall because there will be replacements of nurses by NAs and HCAs during the process. We can't know how it will play out exactly, but I think this is pretty accurate in terms of the plan at this point in time.

Health care workers immune to unemployment? Or perhaps journalists are immune to accurate reporting on the nursing job market. Health care workers may be immune to unemployment; Aging population means jobs in nursing, medicine and more (Macleans, Oct 8 2013) http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2013/10/08/health-care-workers-may-be-immune-to-unemployment/

Yes, you could work in psychiatric nursing in BC with US psych experience and a RN/BSN -- provided you get the appropriate Canadian work visa and a license from the College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia (CRNBC). If you haven't been in touch with them already, contact the CRNBC about getting a license. I'm in Alberta and I know it's a long process here for US nurses to get a license involving paper and practical tests, and often having to take a practicum. There are Registered Psychiatric Nurses in Western Canada, and while they are specialized in psych, it's a not a degree program. RNs with psych experience and Registered Psych Nurses do the same jobs in Western Canada. And of course it is difficult to get nursing jobs in BC, much as it is in every province. Good luck!

I know an RN who has been nursing in Alberta for 15 years and is a Canadian citizen, but is originally from the US. It took her many months to get her Ontario license, so start early. Also, you should know that Toronto is one of the toughest nursing job markets in Canada so get as much experience as you can before relocating. I don't hear much about clinical informatics nurse positions, not sure if they are as common in Canada as in the states.

From what I've heard there are more opportunities in Manitoba than Saskatchewan at present and that recent BC RN grads are working all over the prairies. A friend who graduated in AB in Dec 2012 got a job quite quickly in Winnipeg. In Calgary it seems like AHS wants a higher percentage of casuals. There are shifts available but few lines. When I emailed Health Match BC they told me to get my BC license first, then apply directly to the facilities I wanted to work at. But it's expensive to pre apply for licensure without a good idea of whether you will be able to get a job first. It would be very difficult to get a job in the US without experience. You would definitely want to work in Canada for a couple of years before trying to enter the competitive US nursing job market. You can read plenty about it in the US section of the allnurses forum. Good luck!

> And the shift to the NCLEX is evident for people who just wrote their CRNE. The CRNE has dramatically changed from community and health promotion based to medical model based I agree with Steven that the CRNE is already changing. I've been working in a hospital while in nursing school and talking to each batch of grad nurses after the exam. The exam I took on Feb 6th was nothing like what they described. It was very heavy on the medical/technical questions.