Hi to all Canadian Nurses! I have been a RN in the states for 26 years and am presently a traveler....now in Texas and will be in Bellinham, WA starting Febuary.
For personal political reasons, my husband and I are seriously considering moving to BC...eventually to become Canadian citizens.
Are there any travel nursing companies I can contact for work in Victoria or that area? All of my Canadian nurse friends tell me Canada is much more liberal and liveable....how is the nursing situation there?
Actually Jurby, the US is still a maybe for this spring. I moved to a different hospital in BC in October (out of the Interior). I enjoy it, but I am sort of looking for a bigger change. The funny thing is the people I work with here have no idea how good they have it compared to my old hospital!! I am thinking of switching specialty areas for a bit and doing some travelling, but I have never been forced to work OT (labor laws for all workers don't allow this and they haven't been changed) and no one has even mentioned moving me anywhere. We're always fairly short here so it wouldn't happen. We are also allowed to refuse patient assignments on floors we haven't been oriented to, so a nurse who was supposed to move for 7 days can insist on getting an orientation first. I got that info from RNABC, not the hospital.
Hi Fergus. Didn't realize that you had asked about manditory OT. Sorry, I wasn't kidding when I wrote that I was sans reading glasses. When I did finally put them on, realized that you had asked. Was busy writing out reply when my little 7 lb cat "walked" on the keyboard. Unfortunately, she seems to always hit the 1) delete key and then 2) the power key. LOL. Screen disappeared from view and computer shut down. A good time was had by all. I yelled at her, she felt bad, we had a cuddle.
Anyway, asked one of the BCNU stewards at work today (Monday) and she said that yes, there is a provision. Look in the BCNU PCA (what a joke) booklet. Article 27.03 (A), page 50:
(A) General Rights
The Employer may request an employee to work a
reasonable amount of overtime. Should the employee
believe that the employer is requesting the employee to
work more than a reasonable amount of overtime, then
the employee may decline to work the additional overtime,
except in emergency conditions, without being subject to
disciplinary action.
She said that the employer is the one that decides what constitues an "emergency condition", and they deem "staff shortages" due to sick calls, etc to be an "emergency", according to an administrative directive at my place of employment, "BCNU is required by contract to provide essential services".
This is why, when our contract expired back in 2001, BCNU banned ALL non-union approved overtime. The employer had to get permission for any overtime they wanted worked. And it just about killed them as the employers basically can not run the nursing units without overtime. It was a VERY effective tool. Pat says that, while the overtime provision does not state "manditory", since requested overtime is at the discretion of the employer as is the definition of "emergency conditions", it does, in practice, become manditory.
Yes, you are right about the orientation. One is supposed to get an orientation to a new unit. Orientations, however, can be either a one day overview or it can be a decent period of time, hopefully "buddying".
Am I right in thinking that you've been working OB? Have you thought about "the Grace", here in Vancouver? I have several friends who work there and like it very much.
Hold onto your hat though, kiddo. A PACU crony was telling me tonight that her brother is in construction in Denver. Their company has contracts to build 4 new hospitals in Denver. He was telling her that the STARTING wage for an RN working there will be $70,000USD. Hotchy-mama! I don't know who the HMO will be, am wondering if they might be Kaiser Hospitals. You might want to check that out.
Be very careful if you're considering being a "traveller". BCNU was warning, and I know from reading several threads here, that some travellers are being used as strike breakers. Boo, hiss, gnashing of teeth.
While I'm thinking about "travelling nurses", has anyone taken or know anyone who has, the "primary care nurse practitioner" program offered at SIAST (Sask. Institute of Applied Science and Technology)?
Last May/June I spent 5 weeks in Zimbabwe (but that's another thread) with Oxfam. Am pondering taking this program and then, in 3 years, 8 months, 25 days (but who's counting), retiring and trying my hand with different overseas nursing organizations.
Hey RNonsense, what they did to us here was, unfortunately, not a joke. I run under the theory that we irked (well, that wasn't what I originally wrote but figured it wouldn't get through the censor) them by turning down the contract, then we embarrassed them (the Libs) all summer.
Then we didn't go away, the nursing shortage kept making the news (Vic Gen, St Paul's emerg, etc) in the fall. As Campbell said (CTV news hour after bill 28), "it's about time nurses knew who was the employer and who was the employee"
Bill 28 was our "punishment" for not being good little girls, doing what daddy says, refusing to roll over and go away. How dare we think that we shouldn't be grateful just because we have a job. I don't know about anyone else out there, but I'm going to be 57 next August, have 2 masters degree and am a PhD candidate (biochem). I haven't lived "at home" since I started university, so am not concerned about my "daddy" thinks. I'm not a dog and have no intentions to "roll over" for anyone.
My firm belief is that this provincial government believes that nurses should 1) just be grateful not making minimum wage, 2) should be at the bedside 24/7/52 and 3) should work until we drop dead at the bedside and then should apologize for having done so.
What intrigues the heck out of me in all of this is that I'm not a Canadian, I don't get to vote here, and I can't believe that this government thinks that they can treat members of a occupation in such short supply as if they were just so much crap on the ground.
And if you're wondering, I am a US citizen, and proud of it. This doesn't mean that I agree with everything that my government is doing. I have never thought that trade sanctions did much good, and my heart hurts for those soldiers killed/injured by "friendly fire". On Remembrance Day, I laid a wreath for them, as well as a wreath for my son at the Centauph in Vancouver.
I'm probably one of the few in the Canadian discussions that can talk about the "moron" in the White House and not cause an international incident. Yes, I voted. My vote counted, I didn't vote out of Florida, I'm not poor and I'm not black. That looks awful in print, but the Florida districts that had the most "non-valid" ballots were the predominantly poor/black districts which traditionally vote Democrat. You see, in the States, you cannot vote if you've ever been in prison. Florida state troopers were stationed at the polling places in the poor/black districts and checked everyone's ID. Anyone who'd ever been arrested and spent time in jail (not necessarily prison) was denied the right to vote. This was the result of an FBI investigation by the way.
Of course, Florida's governor is that moron's brother.
I guess that you could say that I have STRONG political beliefs. LOL
I actually do work OB and have considered Grace. I did a temporary line there while a nurse was on maternity for a few months and liked it. But, I don't think I am in a place right now where Vancouver is really affordable. Plus, I am just kind of in a place right now where I want a little change. The nice thing about going to the US is that my recruiter who got me a job as a new grad is still working and I trust her completely. I am also a US citizen so moving is easy.
I don't know anyone who has taken the SIAST course, but I have heard very good comments about U of Manitoba's program.
Specializes in Obstetrics, perioperative, Infection Con.
Hi Fergus,
Just read your posting, are you really thinking about going to the Grace (BCWH), I would advise caution.
I worked there for apr. 5 years, low risk and high risk LDR. The day I left was the best day of my life so far. Management is only interested in special little glamour projects, leaving no money for the great volume of regular patients and out of town patients.
Of the highly qualified staff that was working there when I left in 1999, is hardly any left, making it a very scary place to work (and to be a patient).
I think you are much better of staying in the Okanagan, although I realize morale is at a very low point, the lower mainland is much worse of. At least here you can still communicate with your patients, which is a very hard thing in Vancouver, if you don't speak Cantonese, Mandarin or Punjabi. It is not that I have a problem with that, but it does get exhausting after a while, specially if you want to provide the best care possible and have a hard time communicating with the patient in labour and her family.
Good luck with your search for a nice place to work.
RNonsense
415 Posts
so again...I'd choose Bellingham! What they did to us here was a joke...