ShirleyMc

Yep, it's true. In Alberta anyway, IEN are getting hired over experienced locally/provincially educated nurses (LPNs and RNs)...and getting away with it 9/10 times! It's because health authorities are getting subsidized by the provincial and federal government to hire IENs. Also health authorities can take advantage of IENs because there are too many nurses right now to fill any vacancies. So nurses are "sucking it up" by working in horrible working conditions with ridiculously heavy workloads, getting intimidated to not put in for OT even though they miss breaks or stay late to complete documentation. Worse, the quality and safety of pt care suffers because every nurse is trying to survive their shift.

I'm in Alberta and have been a RN for many years. I work part-time and am having a hard time picking up any extra shifts, this is been going on for well over a year. Casual nurses have been obtaining very few shifts, despite being super flexible. Overtime is virtually non-existent. Currently AHS and Cov have over-hired causals to take advantage of them because they need hours for living necessities but also to meet their Canadian work permit status. Agencies working with IEN do make tons of promises (a job, shifts, blah, blah), and charge you a lot of money to get here, but nurse is extremely challenging right now. Agencies, and the regional health authorities haven't been keeping their promises. Once you are here, you are sorta screwed -- working conditions are horrible. The old mantra "there is a nursing shortage" is true and untrue --- there is a shortage in that we need more nurses when it comes nurse/pt ratios but there is no shortage of nurses willing to get ANY hours and no shortage willing to work in horrible conditions. Caution.

In Alberta, orientation is 4 shifts in addition to an in-classroom stint for a few days. There is no staffing crisis here ATM, due to a huge IEN hiring campaign/program a few months ago. Currently, there are no pick-up shifts, no OT, and casuals struggle to get hours. Maybe as Summer approaches, more shifts will become available, not sure, but right now....

As of about 2 weeks ago there is a hiring freeze for nurses in Alberta as per UCP government in that province.

Are you required to refresher?

I have a question regarding elderly and COVID-19.... Do people over, say 70 or 75 years old, generally develop a fever with COVID? The reason I ask is because in nursing school they drilled into our heads over and over that elderly often do not present with a fever with infection. Does anyone have any experience related to this?

Do I have any rights here in Canada.... Recently on our medicine unit we've had 2 patients whose families insist on video and audio recording nurses and other staff members while the patient is being cared for. At first the family secretly installed a nanny-cam, but once found out, management asked them to remove that because, and only because, this patient has a roommate and the concern was the roommates rights to privacy. Now the family stands there and uses their smartphone to record. Recently, the family was recording through the narrow crack of the bathroom door while I was providing peri-care to the patient. It's creepy. I have nothing to hide and I believe most nurses on our floor provide stellar care. But it's stilly creepy. The family states they are recording to document any mistakes as well as document any progress, or lack of, in the patient's rehab. The managements response is that we cannot insist them not to record, and that it's basically something we need to put up with. Do I not have any rights/choice to NOT be recorded? I mean, where is that video with my face going to end up? Youtube, FB, other social?? Then there is the growing field of biometrics -- being able to identify and search for people's faces in online pictures through computer software. This is widely used in countries around the world. I don't feel good about having my face out there when it comes to my work life. Any ideas?

It took me 23 months to get a RN job after completing the Nurse Refresher Program through MacEwan. It's really tough out there. I even applied in rural Alberta but they were looking for someone with many certificates so that I could work in a small hospital with pediatric/emergency/l +d/chemo training. It is discouraging, for sure. Apply for any and all to get "in".... you'll likely start casual. Good luck to you. Your time will come.

It is very difficult to obtain an RN position, even a casual one, as a new grad.

It's very hard to get a job in Alberta right now, unless you are willing to move, or commute, to a smaller rural community at least 1.5 - 2 hours out of any larger city (Lethbridge, Calgary, Edmonton). Many new grads from spring 2016, yes 2016, still don't have nursing work and have taken jobs in retail. Personally, I don't anticipate the conditions improving any time soon. Providers are hiring less RNs, more LPNs, and CNAs for reasons of dollars and cents. It is my understanding that all Alberta Health Services nursing positions are filled through a central recruitment team through an online only application process...it's not who you know.

I understand about AHS/Covenant recruiters choosing from internal applicants first (based on seniority, right?), then if they need to, they choose from external applicants. My question, if (a big "if") they look at external applicants, how are they chosen? Is it where the RN is located on the pay scale? I.e. young new grad = cheap. Or certificate with CNA? -- Like a "Perioperative Cert." Or simply their keyword searches on electronically submitted resumes? Or is "eenie, meenie...."? There must be tons of applications per position and likely, in the overall picture, it's rare for an external to even be considered? I'm guessing it is going to be difficult for me to get a job in the next few months. I'm an external, refresher grad (out of nursing for a long time), and not the youngest. I'm not even sure if my past 10+ year seniority counts or I start at the bottom of the payscale. I'm lamenting whether I should get a RN certification of some kind, or bite the bullet and get educated in a totally different field and ultimately change professions completely. Obviously this would be a huge decision and huge investment on several levels. I do love nursing and am/was good at it, but one needs to eat.

This is so discouraging, yet so true and exactly what I am seeing on the unit. I am Refreshing right now and near finished, just the last stint which is an in-hospital Preceptorship -- the burn out, lack of respect for the frontline people, the push to get patients discharged as quickly as possible, and WAY too many managers for every little "thing." Why am I Refreshing again??? Lol.

Joanna, I am wondering where you got this information from. Am also wondering about the Covenant health numbers you mentioned. This is a genuine question as I am totally considering a big shift in career out of health care. I am almost done my Refresher, but if I can't get a decent job in health care, I might as well go back to school for something else, at least while I am waiting for a RN position. I mean, it's not like I can even be considered for a post-graduate at U of A without the experience.

You're right Fiona59. I read the post totally wrong, missed something, or got mixed up with another person. Sorry about that. Please forget what I said.

Have you considered going for your BScN? Speaking big picture and long term, more doors may be open for you. As well, not sure where you are (location-wise and in life), but some courses you take for a nursing degree may be used for a different degree if you change your mind. And possibly during holiday breaks, summers, and weekends you can work as a "student" in LTC to help fund yourself. Just tossing that out there... Are you young? If so, it's easier to get your education under your belt before commitments start to accumulate. Good luck to you!