IPad 2 used to lure Quebec nurses
CBC News
Posted: Feb 22, 2012 7:40 AM ET
Last Updated: Feb 22, 2012 7:49 PM ET
Hospitals in western Quebec are so desperate for young nurses that they are entering all new recruits in a draw to win an iPad 2.
The area's health care institutions, which include the Gatineau and Hull hospitals, aim to bring in a total of more than 600 new nurses in 2012.
To enter the contest, nurses must have graduated from a nursing program and moved from another region.
Nurse recruitment has been a troublesome task for years, according to Gatineau's health authority. In 2011, there were only 107 new nurses to the region.
The goal of the contest, and a new online recruiting campaign, is to attract candidates that are both young and skilled.
The iPad 2, which is coincidentally being used in more hospitals, is also a tool for the western Quebec health authority in recruiting new nurses. (CBC)"We have to be innovative, we have no choice," said Sylvain Dubé, spokesman for the Gatineau's centre of health and social services. "You have to find new ways to recruit young nurses, so that's why we launched that kind of contest two weeks ago."
The health authority is also holding information sessions at local colleges and universities, but Dubé acknowledged the recruitment of nurses is competitive.
He also said the hospitals need nurses with more than 10 years experience.
The head of the nurses' union in Gatineau, Lyne Plante, said the goal is also to create a new pool of both nurses and nursing aides to draw from.
The union said it supports the recruitment campaign.
With files from the CBC's Carolyn ThompsonShare Tools
Latest Ottawa News Headlines
- Kenyan runner sets new Ottawa marathon record
- Kenya's Laban Moiben set a new record Sunday for the Ottawa race weekend marathon with a time of 2:09:12. more »
- Fire causes $2M in damage at banquet centre
- The West Carleton Weddings and Banquets Centre sustained $2 million in damage early Sunday morning following a fire. more »
- Teen struck by lightning in Ottawa dies
- The victim of a Friday lightning strike during a storm in east Ottawa has died, CBC News has learned. more »
- Family, friends honour teen killed in school explosion
- Family and friends paid tribute Saturday to Eric Leighton, the 18-year-old student killed in a shop class explosion one year ago. more »
Top News Headlines
- Canadian Pacific strikers face back-to-work legislation
- Labour Minister Lisa Raitt is prepared to end the Canadian Pacific Railway strike if necessary, after both CP and the union rejected a proposal for voluntary arbitration by the government-appointed negotiator on Sunday. Raitt says she is "extremely disappointed." more »
- Syrian regime denies role in Houla massacre
- The UN Security Council condemned the Syrian regime at an emergency meeting Sunday, holding president Bashar al-Assad's military responsible for the massacre of more than 100 people, dozens of whom were children younger than 10 years old. more »
- Ryder Hesjedal wins prestigious Giro d'Italia
- Victoria, B.C., native Ryder Hesjedal has become the first Canadian to win one of the cycling world's three Grand Tour events, wrapping up the 2012 Giro d'Italia with an excellent performance in the final stage in Milan. more »
- Neighbour may have helped find missing kids in Mexico
- Two Winnipeg children who had been missing for nearly four years were found in Mexico after a man raised concerns about his neighbour, according to a private investigator. more »
Most Viewed/Commented
- Teen struck by lightning in Ottawa dies
- Kenyan runner sets new Ottawa marathon record
- Para Transpo bus crashes into hydro pole, tree
- Birds attack Ottawa joggers
- Fire causes $2M in damage at banquet centre
- Family, friends honour teen killed in school explosion
- Quebec students, government to resume talks
- 4 arrested during Gatineau protest against Bill 78
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges
