Thread by @KatuniaOB

I remember when I started nursing, I went in it thinking it was going to be great; a lifetime career in AB. We had some older nurses who survived the 1988 strike and what I didn’t understand was there was an entire generation laid off during /1 #IStandWithABNurses #NurseTwitter

https://twitter.com/nightshiftmd/status/1426943348116541444

The Klein years. An ENTIRE generation of nurses lost to other provinces or countries. I didn’t fully realize the scope of it until many years into my nursing career, and many of the “experienced” crowd were starting to retire. Without that generation / 2 #IStandWithABNurses

Of nurses in between the retirees and the “newbies” (me) suddenly I became one of the “experienced” ones. It was a rough transition considering the massive gap in knowledge between those nursing for 20+ years and those for under 5 at that time. /3 #IStandWithABNurses

When you talked to the retiree group, each had a story of the nursing lay offs. Each lost friends who had moved away and each had to absorb the work if they were spared. It was talked about in reverent tones, though we were all optimistic that AB /4 #IStandWithABNurses

Wouldn’t do that to us again. Never in my wildest dreams did I consider the next great migration of nurses, due to potential layoffs and bogus working conditions would be in my generation. As I talk to yet another friend who is jumping ship from AB, /5 #IStandWithABNurses

I realize it IS my gen. We have no choice. The morale is the worst it’s EVER been, and the small tunnel of light of preventing the 4th wave has closed. It’s here. As I apply on jobs that I never even dreamed I would access, I can’t wait to leave. /6 #IStandWithABNurses

It’s not just the amount of nurses leaving, it’s also the knowledge base. Our healthcare will never be the same. Think of that as you consider who to vote for. Because when the cards are down, like during a pandemic, HCWs and a functional health system is everything. /FIN