Lowered standards

Re: “Painful truth,” Letter, Nov. 8, and “Exhausted nurses,” Letter, Nov. 6.

I am a licensed practical nurse who has recently graduated and I am now one of many new graduates looking for a job in the health-care field. Since March 2013, there has been a hiring freeze put in place over all of Alberta because of budget constraints, so I was aware that it would be hard to find a job in the nursing field.

Now it has recently been announced that Alberta Health Services is trying to replace licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses over the next two years with more unregulated health care aides who are currently not knowledgeable enough to perform skills that LPNs, RNs and RPNs are specifically trained for.

I do agree that health care aides are an important part of the health-care system, but I also believe that vulnerable patients with complex diagnoses would not be cared for properly without the support of regulated nurses. I am hoping to raise awareness of the problems that could arise if nurses are to be continually replaced by less qualified health care aides. I believe that the current standards of care that are now being provided to patients in hospitals, acute care clinics, long-term care facilities, etc., could and will endanger these patients’ health and well-being if this becomes a reality.

Sara Hickerty, Sundre