ON to N orthern Health B. C.

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Hello fellow nurses!

Just wondering how's working for Northern Health B C like, particularly at F ort St. J ohn h ospital? heard that it'll take about ~1year for a new grad nurse to transition from medsurg floor to ICU/ER depending on their interests. That sounds a great opportunity. Need your input and advice :)

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Fort St John sends a lot out to Alberta. Lately, we've been seeing a lot of lap cholis. Was beginning to think their surgeons were on vacation. ENT, high risk pregnancies are all sent.

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Fort St John sends a lot out to Alberta. Lately, we've been seeing a lot of lap cholis. Was beginning to think their surgeons were on vacation. ENT, high risk pregnancies are all sent.

Hi Fiona, would you advice a new grad to take this job at st john or work on a medsurg floor as a float team in a big downtown hospital? my ultimate goal is ICU and move back home to AB

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Hi Fiona, would you advice a new grad to take this job at st john or work on a medsurg floor as a float team in a big downtown hospital? my ultimate goal is ICU and move back home to AB

If you want to go to ICU, choose a bigger hospital. Prince George might be a better choice. in BC, I don't know about ON, lots of hospitals can't do lots of things... MRIs are not in most smaller hospitals, many surgeries can't be done, no cardiac catheter lab, many hospitals don't even do inpatient dialysis etc.. My friend worked in an ICU was twice as big as Fort St. John (100 bed) and she had to take 3 patients even with ventilators. The factors were short staffing + less nurses etc.. Plus BC is also known to be less staffed and harder to work than Ontario and Alberta than general. There is just a lot of doctor + nursing shortage here..

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If you want to go to ICU, choose a bigger hospital. Prince George might be a better choice. in BC, I don't know about ON, lots of hospitals can't do lots of things... MRIs are not in most smaller hospitals, many surgeries can't be done, no cardiac catheter lab, many hospitals don't even do inpatient dialysis etc.. My friend worked in an ICU was twice as big as Fort St. John (100 bed) and she had to take 3 patients even with ventilators. The factors were short staffing + less nurses etc.. Plus BC is also known to be less staffed and harder to work than Ontario and Alberta than general. There is just a lot of doctor + nursing shortage here..

Thanks for your insightful feedback. You definitely have a valid point there! Now I really have to think hard to go or not to go

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Thanks for your insightful feedback. You definitely have a valid point there! Now I really have to think hard to go or not to go

I suggest at least choosing a hospital with 100+ beds, because you are not going to see some of the medical cases as a nurse in a rural setting (if you are into rural health nursing then it's fine but I think for ICU nurses you need to be exposed to all sorts of scenarios). My hospital has 600 beds and our ER can't even give TPA and treat stroke patients so we send them to the bigger cities in Vancouver... so yep. Really think about your choices.

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I suggest at least choosing a hospital with 100+ beds, because you are really nt going to see much as a nurse (if you are into rural health nursing then it's fine but I think for ICU nurses you need to be exposed to all sorts of scenarios). My hospital has 600 beds and our ER can't even give TPA and treat stroke patients so we send them to the bigger cities in Vancouver... so yep. Really think about your choices.

So glad I asked you guys for advice! I'll never thought about this by myself :/ Thanks again:)

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Med/surg is a good place to start as a new grad. The benefits of the smaller site is that you tend to have more responsibilities as there tends to be less resources. Generally employers prefer 2 years of med/ surg experience before you are even considered for icu. In BC, you either get sponsored by your health authority or take the courses independently for critical care throug BCIT. I personally never had done tpa/ had active stroke patients or seen a lot of the stuff that I now see in a critical care setting. You get trained for that. What's important is that you develop string assessment, critical thinkers no abilities, time management and your nursing skills while you work as a ward nurse. It will make your critical care much easier.

If you were being offered a position in Prince George and want to take it, go for it. I believed most new grads in bc start as casuals no matter their health authority. The smaller sites tend to have more full time positions earlier on with more opportunities to specialize sooner. However, that is just my experience

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Specializes in Indigenous Health, Virtual Care & Medicine.

I'm with First Nations Health Authority, but am based in the Northeast region. I sometimes train with nurses from Northern Health. We send our bigger cases to Fort St. John. Fort St. John refers their patients to Prince George or Grand Prairie, Alberta. There's a news that just came out I believe yesterday regarding Northern Health really lacking RNs. Quite saddening, but there are a lot of people who needs nursing and medical services in these more remote and northern regions.

(I'm a new grad 17')

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