One of the principal issues, from my perspective, would be that our salary package is not as competitive as we would wish it to be in some parts of the country for some professions. Occasionally we're also looking for special skills. If I could take nursing as an example, in Nova Scotia, where we do the reception for the entire Atlantic region, we're often looking for bilingual staff in our Springhill location, but that may be difficult to find in the area. Of course, for psychologists we'd love to find people who've got qualifications not just in clinical but in forensic as a specialty.
There is no question that not all health professionals go to school and think that when they grow up they're going to work in a penitentiary.
My colleague and I were speaking about this, and certainly from front-line staff I've heard enormous understanding of why their work is important, how they contribute to public safety. So it's where for us the placements of students...having nurses come through for a six-week practicum is enormously helpful for them to see what the work practice is like, understand that it's often a very autonomous practice, and for them to get a good understanding of what the pros and cons are.
