Discussions

Am I the only one frustrated with the 'Nursing Shortages' we have around southwest manitoba. The thing that really bothers me is how it can be resolved and possibly prevented from happening again. Nurses from the ACC program are finding it difficult to land a permanent position after graduation. The work is there and those nurses are able to work fulltime. They are part of the quick-fix of filling in the 'Nursing Shortage'. The LPN skills have advanced over the years which allows them to do more things and work in more areas. However there is still little recognition of the LPN role in our health care system. The nursing shortage comes from RN vacancies. Today on the BRHA website there are 37 RN positions vacant and only 2 LPN positions vacant. So with an abundant amount of LPN's in the area and very little RN's you would think that there would be some sort of bridging program to help LPN's become RN's in our region. Brandon University has the only BN program in our area and for some reason they accept little to no transfer courses from the ACC program. Therefor the LPN would have to start all over again with the first year of the BN program with very little recognition for their skills and experience. Is it politics? Is it because they want to make more money? Is it because they are unaware of the current LPN capabilities? Other Universities have a bridging program so it definitely can be done. Is it a possibility that BU could really care less when their enrollment to their BN program is high. So with all those graduates from their program tell me why there are still so many vacant RN positions in the brandon and other rural areas. Where do those graduates go? Maybe there just simply isnt enough of them. The RHA's had to recently hire quite a number of nurses from the philipines to help with the shortage. Some of them probably will stay in the area but what will happen when their contract is over. Are we back to square one? Brandon University recently signed an articulation agreement with ACC for the police studies program. So why cant they for the Practical Nursing program? They seem to be advertising alot about giving back to the community so here's one way they could help in my opinion.