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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.

When the news about the switch to a computer based, NCLEX type exam came out (while I was in nursing school) I was 100% against the change and signed the petitions against such a switch. My thinking was that such an important exam should be designed and provided entirely by Canadian nursing organizations, and that the removal of this source of revenue would weaken the CNA. But I recently took the CRNE and I thought it was a lousy exam. Poorly conceived and poorly written. Now I've changed my tune and I'm thinking the new exam might just be an improvement...

I work in mental health in Calgary and have run into RPNs from the UK and Ireland working in psychiatric settings over the past couple of years. I don't know the specific details, but basically it takes a while to assessed and then to take the exam. You would have to budget a few months time/money for that. You might be able to work as a "graduate nurse" in Alberta after being assessed and before passing your licensing exam (RNs can do that). It is just as competitive to get a Calgary nursing job in mental health as in any other field. You need to know That while the AHS website makes it look like they are recruiting, they are actually in cost cutting mode across the province. Working as a casual (per diem) on an acute inpatient unit or in a correctional setting (operated by AHS) are the two places most psych nurses I know have started. Many people apply online with AHS until they are blue in the face with little to no result. You might have to move here and go to the units to meet managers in order to get a casual job. Some people are lucky enough to get community mental health jobs early in their career, but the usual scenerio in Calgary is 10 plus years of seniority to get a community mental health job due to stiff competition. That said, while it's unlikely to be easy, it's certainly possible. Good luck!

And yes, AHS is currently making budget cuts again. I'm looking for a job in mental health so that is what I'm hearing about, not sure what is happening in other areas. One manager said that there were different "envelopes" of funding. The envelope for the new South Health Campus in Calgary is open. But the Mental Health and Addictions budget is being cut pretty much everywhere else. Two of the mental health managers I talked to said there was currently a hiring freeze. Another manager said there wasn't a "hiring freeze," but that higher management had suggested that vacant lines go unfilled. One of the managers also said that AHS has a plan to move hiring decisions up the hierarchy and eventually take them out of the hands of the unit or patient care managers.

nursesmarty, I still think it is worth pursuing taking the CRNE in Canada and finding out what else CARNA would want you to do to be able to practice in Alberta. I recently talked to an RN from Texas on the unit where I work (her husband got a job here) and CARNA had her take some kind of refresher clinical. She is able to work as a "graduate nurse" now, before taking her CRNE exam. My unit hired another US nurse in Calgary recently but she hasn't passed the CARNA obstacles yet or actually showed up on the unit. CARNA does not make it easy, that is for sure. Anyway, might as well try. It may well work out around the same time you are ready to make a move!

joanna73 speaks the truth, sigh. Good advice. The profs at my faculty of nursing totally believe the hiring initiative propaganda. One would think that they would have a clue about the realities of working as a nurse or getting a job as a nurse but they don't seem to.

Just to add to what others have said about the job market. I'm currently finishing nursing school in Calgary and my classmates have found it much easier to get job offers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba than in Alberta, but only in rural areas. It seems like all Canadian cities are over saturated with nurses. Right now Alberta Health Services has a Transitional Graduate Nurse hiring program for new grads (which is competitive and not the 100% hiring they put out a press release about). They say the reason they created this program is to keep local grads in Alberta because of expected retirements (otherwise most new grads who didn't get lucky with a final practicum place would in fact have a lot of trouble finding a job). The other reason is that they want more nurses to work full time in order to reduce overtime and benefit costs. Most of the nurses on the units where I work would prefer to work part time and pick up extra shifts as needed because the full-time shifts/schedules are so brutal. Where the nursing jobs are: small towns in the prairie provinces. And when you look at the glowing career website of Alberta Health Services, take it all with a big grain of salt. But you guys know that already.

I talked to a nursing recruiter at a job in Alberta recently and he said nursing jobs in urban areas of Saskatchewan are pretty saturated and to think rural.

if i were applying for jobs in the us, i would be tempted to say i had a bsn, thinking it was equivalent, since they would not be very familiar with bns. i can't really see any difference between the two. but there are/were plenty of canadian nurses working in the us and many of them must have bns so maybe it is a non issue. if you have the t2202a form from humber you can use the amount on it for your us taxes. but how much you can deduct depends on whether you qualify for the us programs (if it is your first degree or not, etc.). i would use turbotax or a similar tax program to get a general idea. the canadian tuition tax deduction is more straightforward and you would be filing to bank your tuition tax deduction for future years when you are earning money in canada. for canadian taxes ufile is free for students: https://secure.drtax.ca/ufile/login.aspx you can fill it out online, but your first tax form needs to be hard copy so you would print it out and send it to: international tax services office post office box 9769, station t ottawa on k1g 3y4

Congrats on surviving fall prep vimge4! Working as a PSW is a great idea. I am around both younger students who tend to work a lot while in nursing school and older students who tend not to (because they don't have to thanks to husband's income). The health care job experience the working ones get is definitely helpful. In a new grad nurse job market like the US, it is crucial. In Alberta you can get away without it. Just curious. Do you know if the BN degrees of Canada are recognized in the US where BSNs are the norm?

thanks you guys for the info about sending a copy of our post-graduation work permit to be submitted for approval when registering for the licensing exam. this might delay when we can take the exam by a few months, however, so we should keep that in mind. you have to take the medical exam prior to getting an off-campus work permit with no conditions, which ends up being the bulk of the cost. i don't know if we have to get another medical exam at each stage of the process or if once you get it you are okay for the next stage of the process. my observation is that once you have graduated from a local program, and hopefully, got some experience along the way (and by default spend some years in canada), you are "local enough" to get hired, even if you aren't a pr or citizen. no one even asked to see my work permit for a year (!) after i started working at a hospital, and then only because my sin was eventually flagged in the database because it starts with a 9. if a local manager wants to hire you and you have a valid work permit, you will get hired.