By Kolawole Yemisi Victoria
Expanding Alberta's health-care capacity will require more workers, including front-line nurses. But after two years of long, hard shifts, there's worry that a shortage is imminent. As Dan Grummett reports, young people are stepping up but can't fill all of the gaps
The province is to invest more than $15 million to train and support more internationally educated nurses, like Uche Nechi, who trained in Nigeria and had to wait nearly five years before she was able to resume her career in Alberta.
“At some point you have to think about ‘OK, I really wanted this but it’s about a balance of life and family,'” Nechi, who graduated last month and is working in Calgary, told a news conference.
The plan, initially announced in October, includes $7.8 million allowing students to access up to $30,000 in bursaries. The remainder of the funds will create 600 new seats for nurse bridging programs at Bow Valley College and Mount Royal University in Calgary and NorQuest College in Edmonton.
“Access to financial support like the bursary announced today help alleviate some of the stress so internationally educated nurses like me can focus more on our education and less on paying our bills,” said Nechi.
Bursary recipients are required to complete a year of nursing service in Alberta for every $6,000 received. It is to become available in the 2023-24 academic year.
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