I think I made a wrong decision to become an LPN :(

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Hi everyone,

I am a new LPN in Canada (recently passed my CPNRE) and I am starting to think that I made a wrong decision to become an LPN. I don't know...I just don't feel like I belong in this career... Ok, I'll be honest. I took LPN partly because I want to please my asian parents (lol where my fellow asian peeps are? ya know what I'm talking about, haha). I got hired as a casual in a LTC facility, but I just don't feel like going. I don't want to put my license and my studying into waste, but I don't know where to go... Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated!

- Ms. J

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I think you should try getting a job somewhere else, from what i've seen on this site alot of nurses that start out at LTC facilities aren't happy with their job. Maybe LTC isn't for you? There are ither places that you can work as an LPN like doctor office, hospital, or even some surgery centers.

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Have you given serious thought to what you would like to be doing? Perhaps a session with a career counselor might be helpful. You should be able to see the counselor at the school you attended as an alumnus.

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I think you should try getting a job somewhere else, from what i've seen on this site alot of nurses that start out at LTC facilities aren't happy with their job. Maybe LTC isn't for you? There are ither places that you can work as an LPN like doctor office, hospital, or even some surgery centers.

Hi,

Thank you for replying to my post. Yes, I am currently seeking job opportunities in clinics and surgery centres. Not much luck though. However, as an LPN in British Columbia, I still have to be theatre qualified.

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Have you given serious thought to what you would like to be doing? Perhaps a session with a career counselor might be helpful. You should be able to see the counselor at the school you attended as an alumnus.

Hello,

Thank you for your comment. I originally wanted to become an RN, but I wasn't able to get in (maybe the universe is trying to telling me something... lol). Then I became an LPN instead. But I feel like it is not really my passion. However, I still want to use my license while I find out what I really want to do (still preferring something in medical field though...)

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the Nursing in Canada forum

Try applying else where. Getting foot through most doors are the hardest and many will send out lots of applications before finding something that suits them

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LTC opened the door to Acute Care for me. Time management and assessment skills are honed there.

BC is hard on LPNs, jobs are few and far between.

The reality is every province's scope of practice is different. The unit I work on in Acute Care, there is no difference in the skill set. I just can't be Charge, which saves me a lot of headaches. Oh, and the pay difference.

Look long and hard, would you be happy as an RN in LTC? LTC is a speciality just as much as Gynie. Are you unhappy doing personal care?

Evaluate what you want in your career, Would you be willing to relocate for a permanent line?

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Specializes in Indigenous Health, Virtual Care & Medicine.

Hello @hyacinth404

I'm a fellow asian based in BC. I graduated last year and am a RN. Like what others have mentioned, if you don't appreciate LTC work settings, try out another setting.

I knew that I wouldn't be happy working on my feet all day in the hospital/LTC and I always had a passion for global health, so I went for community health nursing in an Indigenous community up north. My asian parents wanted me to stay closeby, but I knew that the kind of nursing I wanted to do requires me to go further out of the comfort zone of big cities & being away from my parents for a bit. They were slightly disappointed, but they just wanted to see me happy with what I am doing in life.

I learned this only in my last year of nursing school that the nursing world is filled with many possibilities. There's lots of different nursing types/jobs.

All the best !

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If you like hand on care but find LTC too stressful you could do private duty nursing once you have a little experience. I worked LTC and you spend a lot of time passing meds. I now do some pediatric private duty nursing and I love it. The lower pay is worth it. And my assignments vary which makes things more interesting. Some patients I work a shift in their home, some I only go to school with, some are just a bus ride, health fairs, flu shot clinics etc.

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If you like hand on care but find LTC too stressful you could do private duty nursing once you have a little experience. I worked LTC and you spend a lot of time passing meds. I now do some pediatric private duty nursing and I love it. The lower pay is worth it. And my assignments vary which makes things more interesting. Some patients I work a shift in their home, some I only go to school with, some are just a bus ride, health fairs, flu shot clinics etc.

The type of nursing you are describing is very rare here in Canada.

Special Ed pupils have assigned nurses for their programme. Rarely would a licensed nurse be used for a bus ride. Flu Clinics are ran mainly by Public Health.

It would also be difficult for a fairly fresh grad to be able to meet the requirements for these jobs.

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