BC nursing vs Alberta Nursing any difference?

[AussieKylie]

Just curious to know if there is any difference with BC nursing to Alberta Nursing.

Is medication orders done on computer or is it still paper charting?

Any other good things about BC nursing?

I think British Colombia is a pretty green picturesque place. Would like to think nursing there is nice.

[Fiona59]

It really depends on which health authority you work for.

I worked in a VIHA hospital where jobs were few and hard to come by. The MARs where still handwritten each night.

Paper charting is the norm in both provinces.

I noticed that the RNs in the BC hospital that I worked in really loved to delegate. Hands on stuff was beneath them.

I came from and returned to a system where both RNs and PNs carried their own patient load and assisted each other as needed. That was an unknown concept in the BC hospital I worked in. They were only too happy to give all the patient care to the PNs.

[Apollorn]

In BC, Interior Health usually goes by the team system: x amount of patients, 1 RN and LPN. RN takes unstable and LPN takes the stable patients. MARs are handwritten if the med is a new order from the doc, or pharmacy has them printable. Charting is done by hand.

Health care is still in the public sector in BC but it is rapidly going private. BCNU (the major RN union) is currently spearheading the anti-privitization of health care.

If you want to have job opportunities, BC is so blatantly short of nurses. We have the oldest mean age of nurses and the biggest shortage.