zolly786

I felt I needed the baiscs before I could move on to a critical area (I did 5 years med surg before taking the training). And I am glad I did it. I worked ICU/CCU for 2 years, and went back to ward nursing. I didn't like the anxiety from the families. The "YOU ARE HERE TO FIX MY MOM. WHY ARE YOU NOT WORKING HARDER TO DO SO???". And you get lots of ungrateful people in ICU. Trust me. The first patient I extubated called me an effing c word. Or the guy who had been beaten by his drug dealer- I had to put a mask over his trach so he wouldn't shoot sputum balls at me. People who are jerks on the ward are generally jerks on other units. They just can't tell you that when they're doped up on M&M. And I learned that you need to not separate yourself from your patients in that area. Because of all the machines, it's easy to do so. You sometimes look at your patients in systems, rather than as a living, breathing, feeling individual. Maybe it's because I've been nursing a bit longer, but I found it wasn't the end all be all that some new grads think it is. Either way, good luck.

i made just over 90 last year in bc. i'm full time, DC1, step 9. rarely work OT, and am in charge a fair bit. i work with some floor nurses who have made in the 150s. to work that much isn't safe to me. but i have two small kids and like hanging out with my husband, so i guess it's perspective.

I grew up in Burnaby, and now live in Victoria. I did my training at Douglas, and now work at the Jubilee. I haven't worked at the General. It's quite a bit smaller than Vancouver. But I much prefer it. I can't handle the traffic and commutes on the mainland. As soon as I get off the ferry, I get road rage. You'll probably want to live downtown. Any other place will be too slow for you. There's no nightlife anywhere else. But there's tons of outdoor activities- golfing, hiking, biking...

my bad. i didn't know there was a difference. sorry.

there are some travel nursing companies in canada. like i said, i know of one. i work with nurses who are hired by said company to work in other health regions (you can't work in the same health region in which you are employed). my friends haven't had any trouble as of yet. and the people who do the hiring and placement work in the hospital (and are darn good nurses in my personal opinion) on a casual basis. and like pps have said, be careful. it is fairly new in bc, and i wouldn't go with just anyone. i won't do it because i have a full time position and don't think it's fair to either take a loa to do this or to fly down to the coast on my days off (most of the work is in fraser health or interior health), bust my butt and then come back up here to work my set. and no, i still haven't heard of the company you're talking about. but that's also because i'm not looking to do agency nursing.

nope. the only one i know of is solutions staffing. but that's because they're based out of prince george and i know a few people who work for them. sorry i'm of no help.

we use nonheparinized saline for our art lines

i just started in icu in january. i've only had problems with one person. our ward is awesome. we have lpns, rns cnas float here. i don't care, you wanna help, come on board. but i also worked on a heavy medical ward for 5 years, from which most of our icu nurses came from. i got pulled to surgery one night (and they pulled someone from icu to cover my load on my floor, don't get that, but whatever). they didn't make eye contact with me, tell me anything. it was afwul. i went into an isolation room and while i was in there i asked the rn if she wanted me to hang her iv clinda while i was there (i had grabbed the po meds) and she tossed it to me. i hung it, no biggie. then when i was doing narc count with an lpn, she figured out i was an rn....and i heard someone ripping up some paper behind me. i looked at it after. it was an incident report trying to nail me for hanging the clinda because they thought i was an lpn. um, look at my name tag, will ya? it's ward culture, not the specialty of the ward. but that's just me.

i guess it depends on the person. i've seen people in a dead sleep and be able to get up and run a code with no issue. i'm not one of those people. it takes me 30 minutes to defrost. and i guess it depends on the culture of the hospital/ward. i'd rather nurses have a nap and be done with their break than sit in the report room and watch a dvd (and yes, it happens on some wards) all night. the supervisors don't have an issue with napping as long as the pts are cared for, and there is sufficient staffing. my co-workers don't nap if there is work to be done, just like any other break. and they're on the ward. we need them, we grab them. guess it depends on what you're used to.

my old ward, i was lucky if i got a break. i usually ran to the vending machine to grab a snack and go pee (not at the vending machine, but you get what i mean). my new job is totally different. last night was the first time since i've been there (3 months) that i didn't get three breaks for a 12 hour shift. usually the last break we get an hour (i know, it's crazy), and people sleep. i don't, and i don't take breaks that long. seems wrong to me. i don't care, as long as their pts are stable. if something needs to be addressed, i have no problem waking them up. heck, one place i did a preceptorship at, they had a TWO hour block, and they would sleep. i did it once, and spent the rest of the shift nauseated and cold. haven't slept since.

there is a agency here in prince george that sends nurses to hospitals in fraser heath, interior health, viha and nha. i'm too much of a chicken to go anywhere, but i know lots of other people i work with who have gone and have quite enjoyed it. the lady who runs it is a nurse at pgrh (prince george regional hospital), if i remember correctly (which i may not since i just finished a night shift on two hours sleep). the cnat is different from the nclex. i believe the nclex is more technical and the cnat is more psychosocial (feel free to correct me if i'm wrong, guys) good luck, wherever your path leads.

in canada, an lpn is an lpn and an rn is an rn. diploma nurses (i think they are the same as associate degree, but don't quote me) are hired here all the time in bc. i think the only places you couldn't work are quebec (language) and ontario (but i'm not positive, because i think you just need to prove you're working on your degree or something). the other provinces i believe have grandfathered diploma nurses and bsn is entry to practice for new grads.

i don't know about the bridging in to the lpn from the care aide. i'll have to ask a couple people at work who have been aides and are now lpns. i'm pretty sure you can't at cnc. and i don't know if you apply for the rn program at cnc or unbc. i know you do the first two years there, and then go up to unbc. i can ask someone tomorrow who's in the first year of the rn program. i also know there is an issue with the union in being casual for both care aide and lpn. i think you have to pick one or the other. so you could do the aide program, then take your lpn, then the rn. but i don't think there are a lot of hours for aides right now. it goes in waves. there aren't many 1:1's on the wards right now, so you'd be working mainly at jubilee. and nursing school didn't teach me a ton about being around people and talking to them. being around people made me learn how to deal with people and situations. there are some nurses (one i have in mind) who will never be good with people. they have a way of offending people like i've never seen before. but they are good nurses. it's the ones who have the social skills who are not capable that scare me.

for me, it was either teaching or nursing. i don't know why, but those were the two jobs i was drawn towards. i was very very very shy when i first started nursing school. to the point that when i was in clinical, i couldn't go wake up the patients, i was too afraid. the nurse would have to go in first and see them before i'd go in the room. i've changed a bit since then, obviously. i had lots of doubts, but it was worth it for me. i really like my job. and it may be cheaper, but you make way less. you go from 25-33 an hour as an rn, but an lpn i think maxes out around 21 an hour. and with there being so many extra lpns around, you'd be working casual for a long time. i don't suggest that because you need the routine in order to get comfortable. that's just my opinion. and with the added responsibility of meds and orders now, the pay isn't enough. it's garbage, but that's another thread entirely.

i don't think you have to fear anything with employment as an rn in prince george. i know for a fact there are plenty of open lines right now. they may not be permanent, but they are full time terms. heck, i left my position to take another job in september and they still haven't filled it. i think there are three open lines on my old ward alone. they are pumping out a lot of nurses from unbc right now, so i don't know what it will be like in 5 or 6 years, but i'm guessing by the age of the nurses up here, there will still be lots of positions. i wouldn't suggest being an lpn. crummy wage and it takes a long time to get a full time position here. there are lpn's that have been working casual here for at elast 3 years and are not getting positions. good luck with whatever you decide.