RPN/LPN/RNA all the same???

I agree, it is very different here in Canada, our medical system is closer to that of Europe than the United States.

I don't think that the historical progression of nursing utilization applies though, for a few reasons such as the RPN education here in Canada is not usually a stepping stone to be an RN, if one wants to be an RN, you can just do it, as many schools in Ontario don't have wait lists and it takes longer to do an RPN before doing an RN, the other thing is that the RN licence is now a BSN as a minimum requirement which creates fewer nurses in the system eventually.

It is just a very different thing with tax funded care, not better, just different. The other issue here is that hospital employment has not always been stable even for RN's. It is not always easy to obtain full time employment here, even for RN's. Sometimes the whims of the government rule the day.

Here is a quickie review of the future of nursing in Canada:

http://www.cna-aiic.ca/CNA/documents...Snapshot_e.pdf

The area stressed at the presentation I attended was the "common two year basic education". The speaker stressed that the PN diploma would be the entry point and building block of nursing education. And yup he stressed that most RNs would be employed outside of the hospital setting. So who does that leave holding the hospital jobs?