a nurse's life in regina, sk

I worked and was trained in Regina.
I find the city is kind of stuck in the transition of big money or no money.
The General Hosptial is where I worked and trained, I found it to be ok. ALot of the nurses are looking for something better. The majority of my grad class from the U of S moved and would never go back. In general I find the whole canadian health care system is in trouble. You have very sick patients that need your attention and then on the other end you have people who are just too lazy to go and see there own md (if they have one) or they think that going to a walk in clinic is below them.

Regina is filled with alot of drugs but that is expected in that large of a city. Huge aboriginal population ( don't get me wrong I am first nations although you wouldn't know it) and they often feel that they are being treated unfairly so it gets a little dicey sometimes. I learned alot but I had to move on.

I did my final practicum at the Pasqua hospital ER department. I saw alot of IV drug users walk in that had injection sites that were infected. I saw a wide variety of drug use from well suited and well groomed individuals that were afraid because their hearts were racing after doing too much cocaine. I saw prisoners, homeless people, I saw people coding, I saw people having heart attacks and I saw alot of children........ I worked with alot of great nurses and doc's but they were often over worked and it seemed as though no one had a fulltime line they were all casual (with no benifits), I didn't think that I ( as a professional) had to sit by my phone everyday hoping to get a call. Now it must be different but that is how it was 6 years ago.
I guess my statement was too generalized, I apologize.

I did get the chance to become a great IV start nurse. My first week in my last practicum , my preceptor gave me the IV bucket and said "this is what you will do for the first week" man I was excited because you never really get to do that on other units as a student.

Remember that the Pasqua is more situated in the "core " area, so you will see alot more abuse of others and themselves in this area, don't get me wrong it is not all just the down and out.

I do have friends that work at both hospitals and they are happy enough. I wish you luck in what ever you decide.

Just to change the subject for a second... Today is August 30 and we have a FROST WARNING!! SKNurse07, bundle up!

One thing I can tell you about the MP-ICU at Regina General is that they hang onto their really critical peds patients far too long. They don't have the expertise or experience to properly care for really sick infants but they don't recognize that fact.

any inputs for Wascana Rehab Center? thanks

We had an active poster here Sknurse07, she seems to have dropped off the board.

I wonder if she has passed her boards and is adapting to life up north, or if the realites have caught up to her.