Lori75

I live on Vancouver Island, but I am wondering how far North Vancouver is from Children's. North Van is nice. West Van is $$$$. Surrey is horrible. I work with a nurse from Port Moody, it sounds nice enough. I am not the best responder though...I have never lived on the mainland, I just like to visit there. Where are you moving from?

OMG, I loved it...thanks so much!!!

I thank God quite often that I am Canadian, and work in the Canadian Health Care system. Also my union is also so strong, that I can't imagine this happening here! I am so sorry you had to go through this!! Last week I got a migraine on shift, at 0830 the visual disturbance started, then when that subsided the pain started at 0930, at this time I went to my supervisor and said "I think I wanna go home, I've had this twice in my life, and I have about 1 hour to get out of here" I offered to stay until a relief could be called in (as long as it was within the hour) and they were practically pushing me out the door right away, I've never seen anyone have a problem going home sick....God Bless Canada! I will say one addition, I watched your presidential election with more interest than I ever have any Canadian politics, and actually cried when Obama gave his victory speech. I truly hope he does bring your country the much needed changes you need! Congrats!

A couple points: - LPNs have a heavy burden of responsibility. Many places here can now have LPNs in charge (LTC) of a shift. -Some LPNs have a harder job than the RN on shift (more back breaking, more room for pt. error & self injury) - I was taught in nursing school that when I made the person in charge of me aware of a problem, I HAD to chart " ( Jane Doe, RN made aware) This does not apply to every detail of everything you witnessed just to cover your rear end. But it is put in my charting to cover my rear in many cases. Many things done in a day are done to CYA (cover your a$$) The previous post referring to this sounds like the LPN was abusing this practice. This practice refers to when you find something pretty unusual, and it could also be charting that another LPN was made aware. I usually do this when I put a new dressing a a new wound, communication is my responsibility, and I will chart that I communicated it, or when I need an extra brain on a problem, etc -I am a totally perplexed for at least 1.5 minutes when I grab an IV gown (the kind with snaps) and all of the snaps are undone...the darn thing is a frikkin Puzzle!!!!!! I always leave the snaps done up on the IV -Free side of the pt when I remove their gown so that when it comes back from laundry the next person has an easier time with the gown. If one side if the gown is done up I am usually OK. This depends upon your laundry's practices though.

I agree that being a care aide (what we call them in Canada) was a FANTASTIC way to decide if nursing was for me. In Canada, one must do a 6 month full time course to be able to work as a nurse aide / care aide. So one can't just casually try it out for a month, but the best nursing students, and nurses, are very often nurses who started out this way. Also, I was a waitress for 15 years, and grew up with my parents owning restaurants, I was a good, cheerful, efficient waitress and only ever worked very high volume establishments. I have said quite a few times that the similarities between waitressing and nursing are startling (and sometimes depressing). I think if someone could not handle waitressing they would be overwhelmed in the nursing field, because you need the organization skills, the ability to put on a brave and kind face when you want to cry or throttle someone - coupled with the heavy weight of knowledge and education and experience that must be mastered so you don't kill someone. I applaud you for realizing you were not cut out for this..and stick to your intuition. So many people stick it out because the money ain't bad, or they could never disappoint their parents, etc. You should be proud you are getting a post secondary education, that in itself is a major achievement! Good Luck!

omg :chuckle thanks for the laugh...he does have an accent, but it would never make a "sp_" sound turn into a "sh" sound...but you wanna bet that's where our minds kept going...lol

My friend got me a chip...but I will get to a meeting any way...thanks so much...it has felt good just to reach out and communicate with other recovering alcoholics

We have the same concept up here...but one must attend their home group at least once in a while to receive the lovely medallion. My home group is the lunch meeting, at the Alano club. Does the Alano club exist in the USA? I know there are several around BC. Its a wonderful social club, some have a little restaurant with very well priced home cooking, it is open to everyone, but intended for people in ANY 12 step program. They house a lot of the meetings in our town, NA, OA, AA, Alanon, GA.

Just yesterday a man with dementia, who has no history of hallucinating and is legally blind, started going on and on about "shanking a monkey"...first he asked "may I shank your monkey" then it was, "I need to shank this monkey on me", then it was "will somebody help me shank this monkey" We were trying to read into it, decipher if he was word switching... but could not keep a straight face.:chuckle

Wow, thanks for all the great advice, support, wisdom, and stories. I am doing a pretty crazy 6 day in a row schedule since my original post, but I told someone I work with how I was feeling, (she is also in the fellowship of AA) and she goes regularly, and she and I are hoping to go to the ladies meeting on Thursday, if not then I will hit one on my own. I really appreciate the comment about how as the years go by people around us tend to forget what a mess we were....I felt like a bit of a tool soliciting a happy birthday wish from you wonderful people, but that how it has been. My whole family forgot this time, my mom used to drive up from Victoria for it (3.5 hrs away) I am starting to forget what a freaky mess I was...which is my biggest red flag...I need to go to a meeting and see a very hurting newcomer! Just reading some of the slogans, and things you say regarding AA has felt so good. My daughter's father has only 4 days until he goes away to treatment, but I am so scared he is going to mess up and not be able to go. His insanity is really getting to me! I did try Alanon a few years ago, and although it was nice, I was warned right off the bat by both groups (AA and Alanon) that I should keep my alcoholic status a secret in their meetings, I could be construed as the enemy. I went to about 5 meetings but could never shake the feelings that I was lying, or spying, or fake. I just felt weird all around. I will post again when I can say...I went, it was great, I love everyone! Love to you all, thank-you so very very much!!!!!!!!!!!!:redbeathe:redbeathe:heartbeat:redpinkhe:redbeathe:loveya:

Today is my 5th anniversary of Quitting drinking. My 5th birthday as we call it up here. And I feel so lost. When I quit drinking I was waitressing and continued to waitress for the first year of my sobriety. I still had to mix and serve drinks, but I did quit working the Bar and went to a chain type restaurant. I got pregnant when I was 9 months sober with a man from AA, he was a coke addict though, with exactly the same clean time as I. I went back to school when I finished my maternity leave, I first became a Care aide, then I went on to LPN, I just graduated in March. We are still together. Our daughter is 3 1/2 yrs. I am so grateful to AA for giving me an amazing career and wonderful daughter! My daughter's father has been back to treatment twice since our daughter was born. His latest relapse has been a doozy! He owns his own business which I have helped him start up, and now he is running it into the ground. It has potential to do very very well, and was doing very well. He is on the wait list to go back to treatment. But he keeps purposely missing his mandatory phone in dates to stay on the list so he gets bumped back. He wants to fit in just a few more Jobs...and a few more destructive crack binges. I should have left him long ago, but when he is clean he is such a great dad, hubby and hard worker. I keep hoping we can have the good life I have experienced with him during clean times. (I know this reeks of co-dependence!) Life is such hell right now, and making it worse is the fact that while in nursing school I completely got out of the habit of going to meetings. For the first couple years of my sobriety I was at a meeting at least once a day, then at least a few a week, now it has been since February since my last meeting!!! I really really loved going, and I will probably go tomorrow, and show up with a birthday cake to give to my home group to thank them ( our custom here). I guess I posted this long winded cry for help and cry for attention because I would like people to share their stories of when they stopped going to meetings. I know I am in dangerous territory!!! I am already doing addictive behaviors, like compulsive shopping. Even if there is no story, I would just like to hear a happy birthday from one person in the wonderful fellowship of AA. I also find that if I physically write down that I will do something...I do it. This will help me get back to meetings I'm sure! So thank-you for indulging me by reading this.

So sad. Thank-you for posting this. The British Columbia government just paid out settlements to thousands of boarding school victims, that is a whole other subject as it is a very controversial topic. After seeing this I will be able to have even more empathy for them. One of the major shames in our BC boarding schools (aside from ripping native children unwillingly away from their families) was molestation of every sort. It is a horrific part of our history that rarely get spoken about, but I have heard one of the victims speak of it several times in AA meetings, and it is gut wrenching to hear about.

I will be telling that one at work!!!! OMG thank-you!!!:yeah::bow::chuckle:chuckle:chuckle:chuckle

Whoa! We are just venting about classroom issues really. And the LTC facility I work at treats our paramedics like Gods. I am an LPN, and I have never seen a paramedic treated poorly, we are usually so happy to see them. Why would you go into nursing if you are so filled with hatred towards the profession?

What a very helpful suggestion! These are some great tools, and may just help some of our children too! Yours was a very good post!!! Thank you!!!:yeah::bow::up:

I am that student that was so irritated by everything...it has always been my nature to be easily irritated. I used to yell at my little brother when I could hear him chewing...(sorry bout that!) I also had the best grades in every one of my classes, so the people who struggled and asked questions on things we had just covered 3 times drove me around the bend!!!! There was one girl who especially drove me nuts, so could not pronounce anything ...ever. She even mispronounced a disease that she has! My heart goes out to all of you on my side. I learned a long time ago that God must be trying to teach me patience in this life! This will happen in every class! Everywhere! One thing that did resolve annoying behavior like pen clicking, was to nicely tell the person who does it constantly (my peeve is LOUD gum chewing) that that habit of theirs distracts me to the point where I can't learn anything while I am hearing that noise. To those that have yet to start a new class..perhaps in the next day or two...if you have a time where they go around the class introducing yourself, and telling the class some things about yourself...add in a joking lighthearted way (but serious enough they know you are not totally kidding) that your biggest pet peeve is loud gum chewing (insert your peeve here) most people will agree with you silently that it bugs them too...and the one person in class that does it will be more aware of their habit. By making my peeve known from the start allowed me to kindly tell people when they chewed gum in my ear loudly, that it was distracting me. If I was a ***** about it people may have done it just to **** me off.

I have been a student of Health Care twice in sobriety, first for my Care aide cert ( the Canadian equiv. of nursing assistant) in 2006, when I was 2.5 -3 yrs sober, then I just Graduated my LPN in March, my 5 yr b-day is on Sept 10th, God willing. I would never be here without AA, and I am grateful!!!!!! I disclosed to my classmates (both classes were fairly small) my alcoholism, recovery, participation in AA and the ones close to me got some of my story. I was in a classroom dynamic where I felt my AA education was so helpful, and came shining through so often. It would not have been necessary to disclose myself, but my LPN class was so small that we all had quite a bond, and I felt as if I were lying or hiding something from them by not revealing such a large part of myself. Once I told my LPN class, I was able to share so much easier without censoring my stories, experiences, and wisdom. It was not as necessary with my care aide class, I revealed it at the end of the course, and in hind sight, I don't really see why I did. I have been VERY selective in disclosing my recovery in the workplace....I actually have never disclosed to anyone that was not in school with me. There are a few members of my AA fellowship at the hospital too, which is so nice. And so far my classmates have kept my anonymity, if they don't its not the end of the world. I had the top grades in both progams, I am pretty competent at my job, and people always seem to really be happy when they see I am working (I work casually in 4 departments). I would not hesitate to tell a co-worker if we struck up a friendship more meaningful than work aquantence. People are genuinly suprised when I reveal that I am an alcoholic...it does feel nice to shatter someones stereotype! My long winded story has a moral...I have disclosed carelessly...been lucky it did not bite me in the a$$...and will always be very careful, because I have heard the prejudice in certain circles. But the love and understanding is out there...just be smart....my nursing instructors favorite saying was "CYA" (cover your a$$) I have worried that if everyone knew...and the narc count was out on my shift...do you think people would wonder about me first???? (even though my addiction is alcohol) Remember...CYA :lvan:

"How not to laugh when a resident says "I'm going home" and another resident in a wheelchair yells "You stupid a**, you're not going anywhere! You're stuck in this hole like the rest of us"(while 3 family members walk by)!" OMG!!! I would have been killing myself with laughter...there is no way I could have suppressed it! That would have been priceless! Maybe a bit sad too.... I can relate, I work LTC sometimes too.

I voted for mr or Mrs....but that is not entirely true, I am 33 yrs old, if they are my age or younger I tend to use their first name, if older then the "Mr or Mrs"...then when I have built a rapport or gotten a sense of what they prefer to be called or outright asked a preference I will use first names with people older than me. I do have a bad habit of using "hon" with some of the elderly I am really familiar with when I swing into the Extended care unit in our hospital. I have never had anyone take offence, but I learned over and over in nursing school NOT to call people by sweetie or hon. If I did work with kids, I would think it to be fine though.

I should have included the information that I was put on the call list, and she kinda admitted that she made a mistake. I now have scheduled shifts. When I mentioned that I spoke to my union she said it was my right. BUT yes I agree with the posts above, I regret this, but this manager has proved herself to be very scattered and forgetful on other occasions. I can't be denied work on this floor, the worst that can happen is I will be under stronger scrutiny for a while. Where I live my union is very strong, and even casuals have lots of rights. I have already been an employee of this hospital since Aug 06, so I am not brand shiny new here...just to this floor. It is a small city hospital, and I have already heard that she is being more careful with the way she is taking care of the orientating people. She is actually a very nice person, (I've seen and heard from others) so I am not to scared big evil things will happen. I also am not breaking precedence here, filing grievances in our hospital is far from uncommon. Nevertheless, it still feels as if it was the wrong move, but too late now.

Today I formally filed a grievance with my union against the Manager of Med/ Surg. I orientated on the Medical floor. I have been working in the Extended Care Unit up until now. I am a new LPN, After I finished my orientation I expected the phone to be ringing off the hook with shifts (I am Casual). They are very short staffed right now. Well... the weekend goes by and NO CALLS!!! I actually turned down some 6 hr shifts a while back for the ECU, because I knew I would be getting calls for the 12 hr shifts on Med Floor. So I called staffing on Monday morning (June 30th) to see if I was on the call list for the Med floor, and they said the MGR had never called down with my name for the list. It is quite apparent she forgot about me, because this was our long weekend in Canada, and they were so short staffed a whole 12 hour LPN shift never even got filled. Every staff member I have spoken to has never heard anything like this. Usually you start working almost immediately post orientation. I need some encouraging words. I wanted to puke when I had to deliver the grievance form to my Manager today! :barf01:

What a great idea for a thread!!! I just wrote my Canadian LPN exam, some of this stuff is above my scope, but so much of it is stuff I learned, and I find myself saying, "Oh yeah.... I forgot that one" One of the things I love about being a nurse is the infinite learning we do. Thanks for this thread, I subscribed and won't miss a single entry!

Good Luck! I just wrote my Canadian LPN licensing Exam (a 7 hour test here) last Wednesday! I am a mother of a 3 year old, and writing that exam was up there with "one of the biggest things I've ever done" I think I did well...I get my results in 6 - 8 weeks

Prayers for you radiating calm peaceful thoughts. You must be very full of anxiety, but if your body is waging a battle right now, it can't be fatigued by stress. You need to focus positive energy throughout your whole being. I know it must be very difficult to remain calm about something of this magnitude, but for your sake, you have to try your best to stay as healthy as possible. Prayers from Vancouver Island British Columbia to Texas!

I'm a new member and a new nurse preparing to write my Canadian Licensing Exam, Thanks so much for the responses to that question, I found it just by Googling "PT PTT" and I found this site and your responses helped me so much!!! I will be back all the time