AHS news release needs context and explanation: UNA President

The presentation of part-time and full-time work ratios in an Alberta Health Services news release today needs context and explanation, says the president of the United Nurses of Alberta.

AHS stated correctly in its news release that 28 per cent of the Registered Nurses it employs work full time, compared with a national rate of 56 per cent, UNA President Heather Smith said. "But the release does not explain that until recently this was the choice of Alberta health care policy makers."

"For years, the number of full-time job openings posted by AHS was far outnumbered by the part-time and casual positions managers chose to post," she explained. "The decision to emphasize part-time and casual employees was an initiative of Alberta health care employers that existed for many years before the creation of AHS and that health care managers have now decided to change."

“We are not opposed to an increasing the number of nurses employed in full-time positions, but there is no agreement on what an appropriate ratio of full-time and part-time should be.,” said Smith.

While UNA is not opposed to a higher percentage of full-time positions, Smith said, RNs employed by AHS have built their lives around their employers' previous longstanding policies and cannot be expected to suddenly change as a result of a sudden and arbitrary policy change by the AHS Board.

In recent years, workload and the nature of the workplace have contributed to more nurses working part-time or casual shifts. In a profession that is predominantly composed of women, many nurses choose to work part-time or casual shifts in order to raise their families or care for elderly relatives.

“There will always be a need of staff mix to respond to the personal life demands of a female dominated workforce,” Smith stated. "They need to address the reasons many employees are now not able or willing to work full time - family commitments, personal life demands, age, and stressful work environments among them."

“We are encouraging AHS to take a more rational approach to increasing the number of nurses employed full-time, rather than a sudden change that will give employees little choice in the status of the employment,” said Smith. “We are prepared to work with AHS to achieve this.”

-30-