Two women are asking how the Yukon government can suggest there is a nursing shortage in the territory when they can't get a job here.

One of the women asking the questions is Education and Justice Minister John Edzerza's own daughter, Crystal Edzerza.

'(Other provinces) are screaming for nurses and you don't need experience, because we are highly-qualified and we are capable of doing what we were taught to do. Then we come back here and there's absolutely nothing,' said Edzerza. 'It's really disappointing.'

Edzerza contacted her MLA, Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell, after hearing comments made on the floor of the legislative assembly on Tuesday.

Health and Social Services Minister Brad Cathers stated: 'This shortage of nurses has been coming for years. We face challenges.'

He added the Department of Health is attempting '...to attract more personnel and to make the situation here in the territory more conducive to having them stay here.'

Edzerza said she found the statements to be unbelievable.

Since graduating as a registered nurse from the University of Alberta in March, she has been unable to find a nursing job in the territory, she said.

Even working in a casual part-time position has not been an option because of a long waiting list at Whitehorse General Hospital, she said.

'Basically, there's been no work and nothing I can do to get into the hospital here,' she said. 'I've hit so many barriers, after barrier, after barrier.'

Edzerza said she has found her situation to be especially frustrating, because she was told she'd be able to find a job on her return to the territory.

She is also born and raised Yukoner and a first nation citizen who wanted to return and work in her home.

'I don't know what's going on. There should be room for new grads and RNs, even if they are new grads, there should be positions available here. Especially if you are a Yukoner.'

Edzerza isn't alone in her situation.

Another woman joined her in the visitors' gallery in the legislature yesterday while Mitchell asked Cathers how while the territory is investing $12.7 million over the next five years for the recruitment of health care professionals, Yukoners who already have degrees aren't able to get jobs.

Marie Martin has also had difficulty finding full-time nursing work in the Yukon.

Over the last year she has been working four part-time casual nursing positions to make ends meet.

'I'm sitting by my phone hoping that someone will call for a shift. All these casual jobs, it's very tiresome. I wake up in the morning not knowing where I'm going,' said Martin.

Though she is most interested in working in the hospital, she said, she is willing to work in the communities and still hasn't been able to find work.

With raising two small children, she said she and her husband have begun discussing moving outside of the Yukon to get a full-time job that will have benefits for her family.

Cathers offered on the floor of the house to schedule a meeting with the two women to explore options to resolve their situation.

Martin was willing to meet, but Edzerza said she didn't plan to follow up on the offer.

'If you have to go to the Minister of Health and Social Services to get a job or to even get the foot in the door to know what the problem is, that is absolutely ridiculous,' she said.

She added she hasn't had to go knocking on the Health Ministers' doors in Alberta and British Columbia, where she has been offered other jobs. She has now accepted one in B.C.

'It didn't seem like (Cathers) was trying to support us and know what's needed,' she said.

Mitchell told the Star it appears the government may be forgetting to look right under its own nose when it's trying to attract health care professionals.

'I think we should always look here first,' he said.

But Premier Dennis Fentie told the Star the government is doing everything it can to ensure Yukoners are able to pursue their chosen career paths within the territory.

He added there isn't a nursing shortage in the Yukon, saying on a per capita basis the territory is doing better than other jurisdictions in Canada.

'It's not necessarily that we have a shortage today, but it is something we could run into,' agreed Pat Living, a communications specialist with the Department of Health.

Though there may not be a nursing shortage in the Yukon at present, there is a 116,000-nurse shortage in Canada, Patricia McGarr, executive director of the Yukon Registered Nurses Association, said in an interview today.

But in talking to nurses and hearing many are being called in for extra hours, it appears the staffing levels of nurses are probably not appropriate in the Yukon, said McGarr.

'An overall look at staffing levels needs to be done,' she said, adding the government should consider following up on recommendations previously made by the association.

The suggestions included a mentorship program, creating a consolidated approach for Yukoners wanting to become nurses to ensure work for when they return to the territory, establishing linkages with universities in the South and encouraging students to come here for practicums.

Addressing potential nursing shortfalls is especially important over the coming years, said McGarr, as the majority of the Yukon's nurses are over the age of 45 and will be retiring within five to 10 years.

In the Yukon, as few as two to four nurses leaving their jobs can create a shortage, she said.

Living agreed the number of nurses retiring over the next several years is a concern and much of the department's focus is on looking down the road.

She added the current funding for the health human resources strategy, which is part of the $21.6-million federal Territorial Health Access Fund, is targeted at recruiting and retaining all health care professionals, not just nurses.

'We want to make sure we improve in those areas, whether it is in the hospital or in communities,' said Fentie. 'There are challenges, of course, but we are striving through the most recent initiative through the recruitment and retention investment.'

Living added the government only does the hiring for nurses involved in the communicable diseases unit, community health centres, home care and the continuing care facilities.

The Whitehorse hospital has its owning hiring practices and policies.

McGarr said the Yukon is not unique in its situation with nurses, with many having, or choosing, to work in part-time causal positions and new graduates experiencing greater challenges in finding work.

'It's worse in other parts of the country,' she said, 'and it's worse for new graduates.'