Rahvin1

I can't speak for the US system at all but in Canada (at least in my province) wages for staff nurses are based on a collective bargaining agreement between the nurses union and the employer. So as a guy, if I get hired into a unit position in any hospital in the province I would definitely not be making any more money than a female nurse hired on the same unit. Now I won't say that as a guy it may or may not be easier for me to get hired into specific units based on my gender. That's definitely up for debate. I also think there is still a wage gap because there are disproportionately more men hired into management positions (which are not union bargaining positions, and are negotiated between the employer and the individual). Also I'm not sure how the US works but in my province there are very few or no premiums for specialty units. So an ICU nurse makes the same as a Dialysis nurse, makes the same as a Flight Nurse, makes the same as a Med/Surg nurse given that the years of seniority are the same. So even though there are usually more men in specialties such as Flight, ER, and ICU, they aren't making more than a female nurse on medicine because of it. I would be sick if I knew that I would get $3 more an hour than an equally qualified woman being hired on the same unit as me (or any other unit for that matter).

I'm also a male nursing student (in Canada) and I agree with other posters that there shouldn't be special incentives, especially monetary for males to go into nursing. I also don't think there should be seats reserved specifically for men either. Scholarships should be based on academic/extracurricular merit and financial need. I don't think that tests of compassion/helping others is necessarily a good indicator of if a man should consider nursing. There are lots of reasons why someone may choose a certain career. I agree with Olddude and say that I don't feel like I'm an overly compassionate person or hand-holder either. I like helping people in a more 'immediate' way. I quickly discovered through my clinical placements that things like codes, Stemi's, traumas and assisting with procedures are what really excites me about becoming a RN. I was a combat arms trade in the military before taking nursing so maybe I chase the adrenaline or something. I do think that diversity is good in any profession though and that it just helps to advance the profession overall and offer different perspectives. So I support more men in nursing from that standpoint. I also don't mind the idea of mentoring, to introduce people to careers they may not normally consider. I don't think there is anything specifically that a male nurse could do better than a female though, and I think arguments to that are a bit misogynistic.

I'm gonna share my experience of being a nursing student in an accelerated program, particularly as a male which I assume by your male avatar you are, or identify as a male. There is a saying that "nurses eat their young" which refers to "bullying" in the profession mostly as it relates to experienced nurses and students or especially new grads. It definitely exists and I think it's a combination of generational differences and the need for experienced nurses to ensure that you know what you're doing as a new nurse. Sometimes it goes beyond just vetting your knowledge, skills and personality though and can lead to discrimination and harassment. I personally have never experienced this although Inknow people who have. I will say that in an accelerated program you may be treated differently by profs and instructors than as a kid fresh out of high school. And this can also extend to practice. Many people in these programs are much more mature and have many more life experiences than your average 18-22 year old. Many have spouses, kids, previous degrees and often complete previous careers. Usually people who are high achieving and very driven toward their studies and knowledge and improving themselves. They have enough maturity to understand the impact their actions and behaviours can have on peoples lives and the gravity of being responsible to individuals and their families. I strongly believe this is respected by experienced nurses/instructors and may cut down on the bullying you could face. I've witnessed this several times throughout my program. Also, being a guy may help you avoid this a bit as well. From my experience and speaking with male nurses, we experience less bullying than our female counterparts. The majority of nurses are female and women are mean to women. It's a thing. This may be anecdotal or based on a small sample size so take it with a grain of salt but it's been my experience and that of a few others I've spoken to.

All NP schools in Canada require a minimum equivalent of 2 years clinical practice and could be more depending on the school. Having nursing be your second degree doesn't matter, you still need to meet the practice requirements as set by the school. Now I will say that almost all the schools say "an equivalent" to 2 years. That's usually 3900-4000 hours. So technically you don't need to take 2 calendar years do meet the requirements. If you work 2 jobs and/or a lot overtime you can meet those hours in ~16 months. I know people who have done this. For references most schools require a combo of academic and clinical references and won't accept a reference from a co-worker (staff nurse) as a reference so it would be difficult to not use your manager (or whoever does your clinical performance evaluations) and honestly may be seen as a red flag if you don't. The difference between a MN and a NP is that a MN is more for people who want to do nursing leadership, clinical nurse specialist or academic nursing. You usually don't "need" any clinical experience to apply to these and they are often 1 year in length. NP programs are NP programs and prepare you be an NP/write NP exams in a clinical based program. They are 2 years in length and do require clinical experience prior to admission. Some schools have a "post masters" NP program where if you have an MN already you can skip some courses in the NP program if you want to take that later. I think these are being phased out though.

You might find a bit of a shortage or at least more competition for jobs in larger urban centres. If you go more rural/community though there are plenty of jobs, and in other provinces too. I'm in Nova Scotia and graduating this December and there are literally hundreds of open jobs within the Provincial Health Authority, IWK Health Centre and long term care. You may or may not get a job on the exact unit/hospital you want out of school but the only reason you wouldn't get a job at all is by choice.

I going to guess that General Duty is the same as a Resource Pool/Float nurse. If that's the case then pretty much you go to whatever unit you are needed on and carry out (usually) the same duties as the normal staff nurses on that unit. A med/surg nurse practices only on a medical and/or surgical unit whereas as "general duty" you might be on a med surg unit doing the same thing as the staff nurses, or you could be on a restorative care unit or an alc unit or wherever depending on your orientation and where you are needed. I say 'usually' carrying out the same duties as staff nurses on a unit because in my experience resource nurses can often be sent to high acuity areas like ER/ICU/PACU if there is a staff shortage even though they may not have the required skills/courses to fully work on these units. This is especially true in more rural/community hospitals. In this case you pretty much do what you can within your personal scope and help out with the more stable patients. In terms of strengths there is debate around whether being a resource nurse is a good idea early in your career especially coming out of school. The issue is that staffing managers will often put resource nurses in a staff nurse spot for extended periods if for example someone is off with an injury or on stress leave and they don't think that their absence will long enough to warrant posting an actual temporary job for that spot. If you're a resource nurse new grad and get put into one of those kind of spots for 3-6 months on a med surg unit it's fine, but if it's an alc or primarily rehab unit it could really hurt your skills development and time management coming out of school. I hope that's an okay answer.

Hey, I was in the ROTP (RMCC) from 2010-2013. Things may have changed since then but I'll tell you what I can. Normally with ROTP you do your university courses from September-April and then different phases of military training from May-August until you finish and then complete your military training afterwards. With Athabasca and a nursing program I'm honestly not sure how that works because you may need to do courses in the summer to be able to finish your degree in time. BMOQ as it was/is called is your first military course and is really not that physically difficult at least when I did it. If you can run 5k in ~30mins and do 20-30 push-ups in a row that will pretty much cover you. You also have to pass whatever the CF has for a minimum fitness test now but that's not usually a problem for someone of even average fitness. There are other physical components like ruck marches and stuff that are hard to prepare for without the proper kit but the course itself will help prepare you for those. Basic is really about being able to deal with the mind games, learning teamwork, basic military knowledge and discipline. Just remember that the seemingly pointless and frustrating things they make you do are to really push a soldier and teamwork mentality and you just have to get through it. Have common sense, take care of your kit, do what you're told, and put the "mission" and team members before yourself. After basic you do 2nd language training if you're not already bilingual and then do occupational specific training which I believe is in Borden ON for health professions. You can worry about that stuff when you get there. I will say from what I know of military nursing it is a lot of paperwork, training, and professional development, so I hope you're interested in that kind of thing.

Hey, I'm a guy soon to be graduating from a 2nd degree BScN program and my wife is also an RN. I'll try to answer as many questions as possible from my experience. Firstly I cannot agree with the above poster who says being a male is neither a disadvantage or advantage. I can confirm through my own experiences, talking with male nurses, professors including one who has done specific research into males in nursing, my wife, and several nurse managers that being a guy will help you get hired into ER, ICU and Mental Health, and often will get you fast tracked into management positions. It can hurt you in other areas such as Maternal-Child if that's something that interests you. A nursing degree from any province in Canada except possibly Quebec will let you easily get hired in any province. The job market is tough in most big cities but that's the same for any profession. If you want to work more rural you will get a job no problem. In my province the pay as a RNstarts full time at ~65k a year and goes up to 80k within 5 years. That doesn't count overtime though and lots of nurses make 100k+ a year with overtime. You can change specialties fairly easily. Most high acuity areas like ER ICU OR and PACU want you to have some med/surg or step down experience first. This is especially true in cities but less experience is needed the more rural you go and a lot of rural/community hospitals hire for these spots directly out of school. @Lucydog14 I have seen nurses using team restraint and applying sedation and mechanical restraints to violent patients many times especially in the ER so maybe that depends on your institution idk. Also yeah ideally you use a lift but I don't know how many times even as a student I've heard "oh good here comes the muscle" and any male nurse will tell you the same thing.

Hello, I will be graduating from an accelerated BScN this year and I am definitely interested in pursuing NP after a few years of practice. I have some questions relating to what people think about the role of NPs in the future, especially in acute care. I'm interested in adults, particularly from an internal medicine perspective (specifically Cardiology and Nephrology) and emergency care. The issue at least in my province is that 90% of the jobs for NPs are in family/all ages collaborative practice which I don't think I'd hate but really isn't my first choice. Most NP positions either want you to have previous NP experience or a few years RN experience in the relevant area. Do people think the amount of jobs for NPs in acute care will increase in the coming decade? I've spoken to a few NPs who think that they will. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't want to go through and take adult NP steam and not get a job when I can take family/all ages and pretty much have one right away. Are there any adult NPs out there who can comment on the current and future job prospects and how hard it was for them to get a position?