Nurses only needed during boom?

Edmonton Canada JournalAugust 29, 2009

Alberta nurses could be forgiven for feeling like they're stuck in the revolving doors of a hospital these days, unsure whether to walk in or out.

First, 5,000 of them were laid off during sweeping government health-care cuts in the 1990s. Then, as recently as a year ago, some were lured back to work with recruitment drives and offers of free refresher courses to upgrade their skills. Now, they may be offered early retirement as part of the government's cost-cutting measures.

Economic times have changed in those intervening years; first for the better--then, for the worse. The health-care system now faces a$1.3-billion deficit, and 70 per cent of its budget is spent on human resources.

The fact that health-care savings can be realized by eliminating health-care workers' jobs is simple mathematics. What is less easily understood is the rationale that led the provincial government to say mere months ago that it was still facing a shortage of nurses, and to now say it is seeking to eliminate some of those nursing jobs as part of its plan to save $315 million. Click the following link to read the complete original article
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Nurses+only+needed+during+boom/1941841/story.html