Hows Toronto treating all their nurses???

[NurseNewbie]

Hi

I'm looking to relocate to Toronto from Western Ontario area. I am wondering how are working conditions for nurses in the Toronto area. I have an interview with UHN next week and would appreciate any feedback regarding this topic.

Thanx

[steven44121]

I would recommend Toronto General Hospital (part of UHN which is the University HEALTH Network). It is an academic teaching enviornment with leading, cutting edge procedures in both cardiac and neurosurgery (neuro is at at Toronto Western).

Nursing, in my experience does have a voice -- at least at TGH , with nursing unit councils and a chief nursing officer heading the division of nursing.

I have worked at Sick Kids and would stay far far away. Would flip burgers before I went back to work there. I felt nurses were treated very poorly. If any placed needs a union Sick Kids does!! I don't think I realized how badly I was being treated until I experienced other work enviornments at other hospitals. When I was young and new at the job, I thought that the way Sick Kids treated their staff -- ie the burnout, the going without breaks most of the time, the expectation to come in on a day off for a peer review -- was just the norm.

I too know senior nurses who were layed off a few years back, at the whim of the hospitall, because they lacked a degree or whatever the reason.

[adaptation]

Several years ago, I was "laid off" (fired!) from a nursing management position at a large downtown teaching hospital- because they said I was "redundant". Very interesting, considering that there could have been two of me, and there still would have been plenty of work to do.

I have not done hospital nursing since, nor would I, ever again, in this city.

The Chief Nursing Officer where I was working could speak at Queens Park, conferences, and the universities about the state of nursing in the world, the country, the province, the city and across the street, but was clueless (or in denial?) as to what was going on down the hall in her own hospital. JMHO.

I think there are lots of "Prima Donnas" in Toronto nursing administration and academia who are more interested in furthering their careers and looking good on paper and in the media, than they are in truly fixing what ails nursing in this city.

Personally, I would suggest Home Care, if I was going to move to Toronto. You are more likely to be able to get full time work and relatively decent hours. There are still plenty of issues and problems there...high on the list are safety issues, the pay scale and reimbursement for mileage, cell phone use, etc., but at least you are doing lots of direct patient care and there are more days than not, when you go home feeling really good about being a nurse and proud of what you've done. You can be more creative and flexible, and have a lot less BS and politics to deal with than you would working in hospital.

[justineJ]

Hi I Am Internationally Trained And Recently Registered With The Cno(college Of Nurses Of Ontario).seeking A Job Here In Ontario Is Like Going Through Hell,no One Seems To Want To Hire You.

[DiscouragedNewGrad]

NEVER WORK AT SICK KIDS - never work for a place that is non-unionized.

THEY TREAT STAFF VERY POORLY - AT LEAST ONE UNIT DOES!

~speaking from experience

-totally agree with Steven! No breaks, long hours! It's worse than slavery!