where are the jobs in toronto??

[dayshiftnurse]

hi everyone,

i am an RN here in toronto. i have been an agency worker for a while. the jobs have literally disappeared in a year! i am icu trained and am looking to get a part-time job in icu, but was thinking of getting another part-time job in nursing somewhere, maybe something non-icu for the break. where are the good hospitals, nursing homes, etc...where are the best places here to work? i literally dont know where to start...am looking central to east end.

i can pretty much do most types of med/surg/complex care nursing. looking for a "simple" job. nothing too overly-demanding. thinking of some of the chronic care centres? wondering what the workload, support is like. don't want to do the "overseeing RPN's" deal--too political for me. since i'm ICU trained was thinking about west park hosp--i know they "have step-down" like units there. wondering about other places--baycrest, runnymede, riverdale, east gen??

trying to fit myself back into the regular work force, especially before another set of new grads come out. dont want to get lost in the shuffle and end up on the sidelines. many of the ladies from my agency went on staff last year when there were lots of jobs...and lots of warning signs. now i just want to quickly get in somewhere with a reasonable caseload in the city/GTA.

any help would be appreciated! who knows we could end up working together...pls. pm me. thanks.

[CDNPNstudent]

Wow... just like you are allowed to express your own experience and judge, I think we, too, are allowed to express our experience...

You will have a mighty hard time finding a job in ONTARIO that will not be doing team-based care. This follows the hospital's budget restraints for nursing care. RN's are being pushed up to management and RPN's are more bedside care (always has been, but now they are regulated and are able to perform functions without supervision from RN's). Management is on the side of pt/case management and on more critical pts where RPN's cannot function without an RN.

As an ICU RN... you have typically had the option of being employed with just other RN's and very few RPN's. In other areas (simple), RPN's are used quite heavily as they relive the costs from the hospital. Why pay an RN $60,000 annually when an RPN ($30,000) can serve the same purpose??? Hospitals are run like businesses and businesses operate according to their budget. It is only economical that hospitals employ RPN's where they can be switched from RN point of care.

I am not saying that RPN's should completely take over RN's jobs, but you WILL see a large shift in hospitals. And in order to be "specialized", you WILL need a Masters and/or certification! I can see RPN's having more and more scope within the decade without the huge salary of an RN. Sucks, but soon we will realize that being a nurse is not about financial gain but about the health and welfare of the people. And when the Unions finally start realizing that there is NO money to fund the large salaries (regardless of whether you feel you are entitled to it), RN's WILL see a huge pay freeze or pay drop... and experiencing a hiring freeze might just wake some nurses up!!!

And I know that is not the case you are referring to... BUT... being in school now and seeing/experiencing what and how they are teaching us only solidifies that Ontario is leaning to more of a team-based system. Sorry to burst your bubble...

Maybe move outta the province or country???

[dayshiftnurse]

comments well taken....but my original post was NOT about RN's vs. RPN's....for the n--th time! (or my opinion vs. anyone else's...i've been very careful how i've stated and restated and restated my points because of the tone of the resonses i got)

i'm aware of the shift that's happening, of course i'm not in agreement with it, but its happening. that does not in anyway change my opinion about team nursing and how it impacted me and many other rn's i knew at this particular workplace...and from agency'g around town, many other alc/rehab type units that seem to use rn's only in a supervisory role and overextend us, overburden us all under the guise of "team" nursing, it seemed to me the only staff that had a safe level of responsibility (workload is a different matter) were the psw's and the rpns...anytime trouble arose, it was the rn's license that seemed to be on the line.

one shouldnt be required to go back to school in a never-ending manner to maintain job security (that being said from someone with icu cert, coronary care cert and soon to have dialysis certificate--all more for personal goals than anything else)...it should be a choice for personal fulfillment.

going to another province or country may be a solution for you, but doesn't solve the real problem for many nurses here.

thanks.

[Golfenaround]

Seriously send me a pm and I can give you contact name and numbers looking for ICU nurses. So far part time positions at this time.

[kb14]

Seriously lay of off her with the whole RN vs RPN thing. It's getting really old, grow up. She was asking a question if you don't have anything helpful to say don't bother commenting. Correcting someone is one thing, but being sarcastic and pretentious is another.

Anyway, have you thought about doing Visiting Nurse (assuming you drive)? e.g. CCAC, Comcare. A family friend of mine is doing this as her Full-time job and she finds it flexible enough for her and it's not overly demanding.