i am 40 year old, male, has been in retail for a long time and want to go back to school - u alberta after degree nursing program - RN, and then get into Master of Nursing (if money is not an issue.)
i read a lot in allnurse website, lots of threads posting a lot of negatives about AHS, nursing in alberta, work, managers, department, etc, etc...
I am not sure what to believe and what not to believe.
indeed, i heard and read that there will be massive cut backs across alberta, not just for healthcare (nurse), but also, education, provincial level, as well as muni level cuts. I was told that u alberta is running a hugh deficit. is it the case???
So, my point is that knowing the budget cut is coming, there are lot of experienced nurses are either out of work or not enough hours of work or unable to get work, in addition, there are lots of nurses moving to alberta looking for work.
It seems like there are over supply of nurses everywhere in Canada.
Should I continue to pursue to be a nurse, especially at my age?
And the department with one of the highest chances of getting assaulted by the public.
Where the wonderful patient population has no hesitation in pointing out your faults, your ethnicity, lack of English skills, your weight, how it's YOUR fault that the wait is so long, etc.
Emerg isn't exciting, crazy, or busy. It's full of people who don't have family doctors, who are mentally ill, who are drug seeking. The true traumas are few and far between, thank god. It's usually appis, gallbladders, kidney stones, early pregnancy bleeding and a few clueless home handymen armed with saws or nailguns that they had no business using due to failing to read the instruction manual!
It looks busy because people that won't use medi-centres go there for everything from UTI's to ingrown toenails to prescription refills.
There are a few questions you should give serious thought and time to.
-Why do you want to pursue nursing?
-How do you feel about a PBL approach for your nursing education? If you don't know what that is you need to contact the U of A Faculty of Nursing.
-Why do you want to pursue a Master of Nursing? What are your career goals? (aside: I'm currently doing my Master of Nursing at the U of C and can answer any questions you may have)
-How do you feel about working 12 hour shifts day/night? Have you ever worked 12 hour night shifts before?
-Do you think you could handle seeing and working around body fluids? Vomit, mucus, urine, feces, blood, semen etc. Yes if you are an RN you WILL be changing attends and performing pericare.
-How do you handle verbal abuse, stress, confrontation?
-How are you at interacting with persons who are cognitively impaired or persons with mental health issues?
If you truly want to pursue a career in nursing that isn't motivated by making money or having job security then you're never too old to pursue your dreams.
loriangel14, RN
6,933 Posts
Yeah that sums it up.lol