Hundreds of nurses from across the province are gathering in Calgary for the Alberta Association of Nurses’ (AAN) annual conference. With the major restructuring of Alberta’s health-care system and the recent federal election, organizers made this year’s focus on the future of health care. Most of the conference will discuss what health care is going to look like in the coming years and what a nurse’s role will be in the future. The AAN says the annual event offers an important chance for nurses to meet other nurses, learn from them and to share the challenges they’re facing. Some of the issues are job security, modernization of health care and the threat of privatization. The AAN has previously called for a nursing workforce plan to ensure there are enough nurses trained and able to fill the demand. It’s also calling for the voice of nurses in decision making, something it believes can achieved with a couple key positions. The AAN wants the federal government to name a permanent chief nursing officer in Ottawa. It’s a role the Liberal party reestablished, but it’s still temporary. The association is also looking for the province to create a chief nursing officer of Alberta. “They would have input into the decisions that are being made, ensuring that nurse’s voice is there, ensuring that decisions that are being made, policies that are being developed, are going to work for nursing and ultimately for patients for sure,” said Kathy Howe, AAN’s CEO. The conference will take place Thursday and Friday.
