Registered Nurse (Critical Care) — Alberta Health Services, Edmonton Full Time

Picture the night shift in a Level 1 trauma intensive care unit. A transplant patient is settling after surgery, a ventilated patient needs constant watching, and the Code Team pager could go off at any moment. That is the everyday reality of this role — and if that sounds like the work you are trained for, rather than work you would dread, keep reading.

Alberta Health Services is hiring a Registered Nurse for its Critical Care Program at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton. It is a regular full-time role in the General Systems Intensive Care Unit, with the Edmonton Firefighters’ Burn Treatment Unit also part of the wider program. The unit is a provincial transplant centre for northern and central Alberta, and it looks after patients with critical illness and trauma, often with several systems involved at once.

The work here is not routine ward nursing. You will care for people needing continuous and intermittent renal replacement, for liver transplant patients and kidney/pancreas transplant patients, and for patients in the Special Isolation Unit with complex isolation needs. GSICU nurses are also members of the Code Team and the Medical Emergency Team for the Walter C. McKenzie campus. There is also a chance to join the Clinical Resource Team, caring for patients in both the GSICU and the Burn Unit.

Quick Job Overview

About the Employer

Alberta Health Services is Alberta’s provincial health authority, running hospitals, continuing care, community health, and home care across the province. The University of Alberta Hospital is a major teaching and referral hospital in Edmonton. Its General Systems Intensive Care Unit is a Level 1 Trauma Centre ICU and a provincial transplant centre, serving northern and central Alberta as well as northern British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and the northern Territories.

What This Role Involves

Working as part of the interdisciplinary care team, you will plan, assess, implement, and evaluate care using evidence-based practice, and work collaboratively to get the best outcomes for patients and families. In practice, that means:

• Providing evidence-based care to patients with critical illness or trauma, often with multisystem involvement
• Caring for patients needing renal replacement therapy, and for transplant patients
• Working as part of the Code Team and Medical Emergency Team on campus
• Supporting the Special Isolation Unit for patients with complex isolation needs
• Teaching, counselling, and advocating for patients and their families
• Taking a leadership role in an integrated, holistic approach to patient care and health promotion
• Taking on Charge Nurse duties when required

You need the physical capability for the role, including being able to lift up to 50 pounds.

Required Skills and Qualifications

AHS lists the following as required:

• Completion of an accredited nursing education program
• Active or eligible registration and a practice permit with the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CRNA)
• Current Basic Cardiac Life Support – Health Care Provider (BCLS-HCP) certification
• Recent completion of a recognized Critical Care course with 1 year of adult critical care experience

Candidates without previous adult ICU experience may be considered for the AHS Critical Care Orientation Program (OPACCA) — theory training and orientation through online classes, followed by unit buddy shifts with clinical instructor supervision. You must achieve at least 75% on the theory component to continue to clinical assessment, and demonstrate excellent assessment, documentation, clinical, communication, organization, and patient care skills.

Preferred: previous experience in an ICU, observation room, inpatient trauma, or with ventilated patients; and certifications, training, or experience in ACLS, TNCC, CNA Critical Care Certification, intermittent hemodialysis and/or CRRT, cardiac rhythm analysis, pacemakers, cardioversion/defibrillation, emergency cardiac arrest management, external ventricular devices, and advanced hemodynamic monitoring.

Salary, Benefits, and Relocation Support

The employer states CAD $44.56–$60.98, without stating a pay period on the posting, so we have not added one. Provisional permit holders are paid $40.76–$55.79 until they obtain a full practice permit, when the rate is adjusted under the United Nurses of Alberta agreement. No relocation package is stated, so none is added here.

Work Permit / Visa Note

The employer does not state anything about visa sponsorship or work-permit support for this role, so we cannot confirm it. If you are applying from outside Canada, you will need valid Canadian work authorization of your own before you can take up the role. That is general context only — it is not a promise about this job, and AHS has not confirmed any sponsorship route for it. Check the official posting and Canada’s immigration rules yourself before applying.

Who This Role May Suit

This role suits a registered nurse with adult critical care experience who is comfortable with ventilated patients, transplant care, and fast decisions under pressure — and who wants that work in a large teaching hospital rather than a small unit. If you are newer to adult ICU, the OPACCA orientation route is a genuine way in, but be ready for a demanding theory and clinical assessment process.

How to Apply Officially

Apply only through the official Alberta Health Services careers page for this posting (posting 598281). The posting closes on 16 November 2026.

Apply here (official AHS careers page): https://careers.albertahealthservices.ca/jobs/registered-nurse-598281

Required Documents

The posting does not list a document checklist, so prepare the standard set AHS normally asks for: your resume, proof of your nursing education, your CRNA registration or eligibility evidence, your BCLS-HCP certification, and evidence of your critical care course and adult ICU experience. AHS may ask shortlisted candidates to complete further assessment steps as part of its hiring process.

FAQs

Is this a full-time role? Yes — regular full time, 1.00 FTE, working days, nights, and weekends on rotation.

Where is the job based? The University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, in the General Systems Intensive Care Unit.

When does the application close? The employer states a posting end date of 16 November 2026.

What is the salary? AHS states CAD $44.56–$60.98. The posting does not state a pay period, so we have not added one.

Does AHS sponsor a work visa for this role? Not specified by the employer. The posting does not mention visa sponsorship or work-permit support.

I have no adult ICU experience yet — can I still apply? Possibly. AHS says candidates without previous adult ICU experience may be considered for its Critical Care Orientation Program (OPACCA), subject to passing the theory and clinical assessment stages.

Relevant Internal Links

• Registered Nurse (Home Care) — Alberta Health Services, Brooks AB — another AHS nursing role on JobsRivo
• Manager, Operating Room & Surgical Booking Services — Alberta Health Services, Grande Prairie — another AHS role on JobsRivo
• Canada LMIA Work Permit Guide — how employer-supported work permits in Canada generally work

Disclaimer

JobsRivo is an independent job listing portal and is not the employer. Applicants should apply only through the official employer website. JobsRivo does not charge fees, process visas, or guarantee job offers.