Area's nursing grads facing uncertain future
astephenson@medicinehatnews.com
Only a few short years ago, students who went into nursing did it knowing they would be virtually guaranteed a job upon graduation. Now, however, the recession and resulting hiring freeze at Alberta Health Services means graduating nursing students are facing a very different outlook.
“It’s a little bit disconcerting now, with everything that’s going on,” says Judi Santos, a third-year student in Medicine Hat College’s nursing program. “Obviously, people don’t want to go to school for practically four years and then have it be difficult to get a job when you come out — unless you want to relocate.”
Both Santos and Don Flaming — co-ordinator of the nursing program at Medicine Hat College — say they are aware of several recent nursing graduates who have made the move to Saskatchewan, where nurses are being hired in large numbers. This year was also different from most in that not all MHC nursing graduates had work lined up by the time of their graduation ceremony.
“This year wasn’t quite like that — not everyone had the jobs,” Flaming says.
Alberta Health Services’ hiring freeze comes at an inopportune time, because over the past number of years, post-secondary institutions have been growing their nursing programs at the provincial government’s urging.
“We’ve increased our numbers in the past couple of years due to the government wanting us to do that because of that nursing shortage that was going to happen,” Flaming explains.
Flaming says in the past three years, there has been an approximately 25 per cent increase in the number of nursing seats available at post-secondary institutions province-wide. But while the current economic state of the province may be leading some to question that increase, the message from the government is to keep enrolments steady.
“They do not want us to cut our enrolment, because all the projections from Alberta Health Services and Alberta Health and Wellness and Alberta Employment and Immigration — all the ministries who look at work force things — are that we will need as many nurses as we graduate due to retirements that are coming up,” Flaming says.
That doesn’t mean every student will get work where they want it, but it does mean the job market is still there.
“It’s softer, shall we say — but if people are willing to move, it’s still really good,” Flaming says.
However, while the current economic climate is naturally a concern, Santos says she is still enthusiastic about her career choice. While it was nice to enter a field where the job prospects seemed so good, it was never the main reason she chose nursing in the first place.
NEWS PHOTO EMMA BENNETT Nursing students Tracey Nemeth, left, and Kaitlin Young take part in a lab at the Medicine Hat College in January.
“I had cancer 15 years ago, and I was so grateful to the people who helped me through that,” Santos says. “I needed to do something to give back, to help people, to feel like I’m making a difference . . . I had a very good job and I probably could have done that for the next 35 years, but it would have been very unfulfilling.”
52231900•03/09/10
66 — REPORT ON SOUTHEAST ALBERTA 2010 ■ Celebrating our Community
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