To the Editor,
Re: Nursing graduates offered one-year position, March 22.
I graduated from the Malaspina nursing program in 1991 and could not find the full-time job needed to support my family while paying back what at that time was a mountain of student loans.
My husband was just finishing with the military and decided to seek employment out of the province. I secured a full-time time position in Texas, where Canadian nurses were welcomed with open arms.
I have been living and working in the States for almost 20 years and now that I am trying to move back home, it seems the jobs that were once restricted to ‘experienced’ nurses are now being served on a platter to new graduates.
I am all for gaining experience, but if they are only offering them temporary full-time, what happens when the assignment expires and they are back at the drawing table when the next class takes those jobs?
I have watched the Vancouver Island Health Authority job board and applied for many of the positions, but have not heard back on any of them.
I am in the reinstatement process for my B.C. RN licence, which should take three to four weeks and would like to plan to move back in the next couple of months, but I cannot move unless I have secured a position so that I can pay for housing, etc.
This is a Catch-22.
Patricia Shaw
via e-mail
