Three Calgary Health Region representatives are traveling this weekend to Ireland, England and two Persian Gulf countries in a bid to recruit between 50 and 60 registered nurses to work in the local health system. During the two-week recruitment trip, officials will interview about 110 candidates in several cities, including Dublin and London as well as Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Doha, Qatar.

The trip comes as more than 30 beds are closed every day in Calgary hospitals because of shortages of nurses and other health professionals.

CHR estimates it has job openings for between 400 and 500 registered nurses.

Noreen Linton, associate chief nursing officer for CHR, and two other officials will conduct the interviews, offering qualified candidates conditional employment, based on their ability to meet Canadian immigration criteria.

"We have a situation where supply is not keeping pace with demand," said Susan Cassidy, executive director of workforce strategies for CHR. "International recruitment is one strategy aimed at attempting to increase the supply of qualified staff into the organization."

But the trip is renewing debate about the ethics of "poaching" medical professionals from other countries.

"You don't want to leave a less fortunate country with a massive shortage" of nurses, said Michelle Senkow of the United Nurses of Alberta. "We should be dealing with the problem within our own country.

Linton said the CHR's trip is within the ethical policies of the Canadian Nurses Association. The policies allow international hires in developed countries and regions that have enough medical staff. "We're not poaching. We're meeting with individuals who have chosen to immigrate here," said Linton.

In a bid to lure more nurses into the system, CHR has been ramping up its recruitment efforts. A "hiring blitz" in December allowed the health authority to conduct group interviews and conditionally hire large numbers of health professionals, pending confirmation of their qualifications.

Similar events are planned for January and February.

CHR is launching an ad campaign next weekend in newspapers around the country to attract nurses from other provinces, and the health authority has advertised for medical professionals in international journals.

The University of Calgary has also increased the number of nursing students it is training.