EDMONTON – Alberta Health Services may be in the midst of a controversial transformation, but that’s not stopping some nurses in New Brunswick from having their sights set on working here.
It’s not entirely surprising, since there are 307 registered nurse positions available in the province – according to AHS – and only about four current openings for two health networks in New Brunswick.
With her own province’s job prospects looking quite slim, fourth-year nursing student Jacquelynn Johnston will be at least one of roughly 220 new graduates looking west.
“There are a ton of jobs,” Johnston says.
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That doesn’t mean she wouldn’t love to find a job in her home province.
“But if that doesn’t happen, I have to start paying my loans a couple months after that, and I will need an income.”
Linda Silas, of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, says that registered nurses in New Brunswick used to be able to get a job right after graduating. She claims that changed after the province’s government began looking at different models of care.
“We’re seeing the same thing happening in Alberta,” Silas adds.
“I understand our own grads are looking outside Alberta for employment, which is a huge issue in my mind,” says Heather Smith, president of the United Nurses of Alberta.
AHS, meanwhile, maintains that its overall nursing workforce has increased by 13 per cent since 2010.
It does confirm, though, that it’s been aggressively recruiting nurses to prepare for thousands of retirements over the next five years.
And with only nine months left until she graduates, Johnston is hoping to help fill those nursing needs.
With files from Laurel Clark, Global News
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