lisa118

I'm hoping that I work with one consistently enough that she/he would be willing to do it. We'll see soon enough. Thanks for the ideas. I have tons of references from my own business (web design/programming) but they are not related to nursing at all. I would like to have 2 nursing related ones confirmed before I start hunting.

Yeah, no luck there. There is only 2 of them for our program.

I am in a situation where one of my instructors will be on extended holidays and the other is very pregnant and due near our grad. I certainly can use my preceptor as a reference but do you have suggestions for others that I could use? I start my acute clinical in a week, then my preceptorship 5 weeks later. I graduate April 30th and want to start applying for work very soon. Thank you for any advice you may give.

Well, we all know how sensationalized the news can be too. The "recession" didn't last very long. I do whole heartedly agree that there is mismanagement of funds in this province. The Olympics, as much as I love them, I think will be the demise of this province for years to come. As far as work goes, we are in Clinical right now and working at various facilities on Vancouver Island. We are all getting told to apply for jobs, even as students, that they are desperately looking for people. I just had some tests done at the local hospital and the techs there were all saying the same thing. I don't think it is as dire as people are saying, at least not yet. The only job losses reported by the same papers reporting the cutbacks are in upper management and administration. IT was cut harshly (the career I'm leaving to become a nurse). I have not heard of any nurses losing their jobs yet in the locations where our students are placed.

Yes, there are definitely some cutbacks on the mainland and Vancouver Island but most of those have been in administrative and support departments to date. When reading these articles, consider also the statistics of nurses that will retire in the next 4-5 years as well. I have not heard of any cutbacks at BCCH so far either (not that I am "in-the-know" there) but worth your own research. You may find some useful research here: http://www.niefs.net/bc_canada_lmi.php

I have lived in Vancouver for 20 years. I have lived in Surrey, New Westminster, Burnaby, East Vancouver, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, South Vancouver and Downtown. Out of all of those areas, I enjoyed Port Coquitlam and South Vancouver the most. When I was younger and traveled by transit, Downtown was really convenient but parking can be an issue (not enough and too expensive, tickets and towing charges). When I lived in Coquitlam and had a car, traffic was occasionally an issue but most of the time it wasn't. I just grabbed a coffee before leaving downtown and cranked the tunes. There were tons of great parks/lakes/hiking areas and shopping was convenient and had almost everything I needed there. It took as long as an hour to get the heart of downtown where I was working at the time but there is the commuter train and transit that are convenient if it jives with your work schedule. Some skytrain stations at night are unsafe (eg. New Westminster, Broadway, etc.) so I would avoid that option if using those stops except during the day. I ALWAYS made sure I was on the most populated skytrain cars. Be smart and you'll be safe. If driving, know a few alternative routes to get to your work so you can deak around traffic if needed. Practice these routes so you know them well. PoCo has easy access to the highways too, so traveling to the Interior, Downtown or ferries is relatively easy. As far as Richmond goes, I heard car insurance is higher there and I believe that all the service stations are attendant stations (you can't pump your own gas) so their hours may be more limited as a result. The airport is in Richmond if that makes a difference for you. Some of the more well-known cultural areas are: Commercial Street (Italian), East Van (Chinatown), Surrey (East Indian), Richmond (Asian). Fraser Street has a mix of cultures (East Indian/Asian). There are tons of great cultural shopping and eateries in these areas. I love Vancouver overall and just like any city, you have to take precautions to be safe. I hope you enjoy your new home and job. I hear only great things about the BCCH (very rewarding).