September 21, 2015
Story by Mark Evans
Registered Nurse Audrey Gray had worked in wide range of community and urban hospitals, including intensive care units, but decided to look for a change of scenery and take on some short-term nursing opportunities in some remote northern communities.
So when Alberta Health Services (AHS) launched the Nursing Locum pilot project in communities north of the 57 parallel in 2013 Gray signed on to work in Fort Vermilion and La Crete.
Now she’s moving to La Crete permanently and planning to work full time in the area after a rewarding experience in the rural northern communities.
It is those kinds of recruitment success stories that prompted AHS to expand the Registered Nurse / Registered Psychiatric Nurse (RN/RPN) Locum Program across the entire North Zone in May.
AHS facilities facing recruitment challenges across the North Zone will now be able to access the RN/RPN Locum Program to ensure consistent services in their communities for residents while providing nurses opportunities to gain experience in a variety of practice settings.
“I just really fell in love with the area,” says Gray. “It’s nice to have that diversified experience you get working in the North. That’s what appealed to me. You get a little bit of everything from trauma, cardiac, pediatrics, obstetrics, health teaching and a lot of mentoring.”
That’s also what keeps RN Barb Healey coming back to High Level. Originally from Newfoundland and now living in Red Deer she has done various locums ranging from six to nine months.
“I have always worked in big hospitals and was very specialized,” says Healey. “When I came as a locum it’s a totally different way of nursing. You really get to know your patients, the community and different cultures from around the world. You develop really nice relationships that way.”
The facilities are well-equipped so she gets to practise just as nurses do in larger facilities it’s just that you have the opportunity to see all kinds of patients in all areas of practice, said Healey.
She’s becoming part of the community, making some of the best friendships she’s had in her life working as a locum nurse in northern Alberta and expanding her nursing skills and knowledge.
“I’ve learned so much from going up there. I’ve learned a lot about being resourceful and depending on your co-workers. You learn a lot more about yourself and gain confidence. You become well-rounded,” she says.
Gray agrees, “It’s certainly expanded my skills and my critical thinking. The opportunity for learning is never ending.”
For Steve Rideout, Site manager of the Northwest Health Centre in High Level the Locum program takes off a lot of the stress of constantly needing to find staff to fill vacancies and cover vacations.
“With basically no casual staff in the community it was a constant struggle,” says Rideout. “The locum program provides us a pool of available staff that can fill these vacancies and provide the required coverage.”
Ultimately the program allows managers to focus on providing quality patient care.
“It has definitely improved the morale. Staff are not having to be called as much for over time and weren’t getting called on days off,” he says.
It’s not just a matter of having the shifts covered. The locum nurses usually bring a lot of experience so not only can they be quickly brought up to speed in the facility, but they also help with training and supporting the new graduates who are coming into permanent positions at the hospital. All this means more consistent care for patients.
“The locum nurses definitely improve patient care because of the skill set they bring and because we have the coverage we need,” says Rideout.
