lemur00 BSN, RN

Only if they're actually doing something they're not allowed to do. It depends on your contract and there are variables you have to be aware of. For example, here temp positions can sometimes be offered internally or created for new grads, and posted...

Additionally, I think LPNs can probably do most bedside nursing. AND I really support them doing immunizations because then PH can be about something OTHER than just doing immunizations all the time. But I also think the community/PH role should be H...

This isn't the typical turf war, though the media has definitely portrayed it as one. What is really happening is a conservative government trying to pit two unions against each other (note that only LPNs are going into RN roles while the RN and RPN ...

That's the real rub that I think a lot of people new to the field miss. It's not that there is a major glut of qualified applicants, but that austerity measures keep nurses from being hired in the places they are needed. So yeah when people tell you ...

As mentioned, not getting callbacks has nothing to do with union work and everything to do with whether they are hiring in the facilities/regions you want to work in. Saskatchewan has one of the stronger nursing unions and I had a permanent full tim...

You'll have more luck if you're flexible enough to take a position that includes 8 hr day/evening and weekends, on call or 12 hr weekday rotations (eg interventional radiology, endoscopy, clinics, OR). As mentioned, the big thing is being willing to ...

We went to mandatory BScN in Saskatchewan almost 20 years ago (and LPN has become the diploma designation). Diploma RNs who already had licenses were grandfathered in. If they want to do advanced practice or education they have to get their degree, b...

One of my reasons for going in to health care was so that I could work nights. I have never slept at night and I'm really sensitive to sleep deprivation. I have a lot of difficulty functioning both physically and cognitively on day shifts and I sp...

You can make casual work, you just have to accept that it might be the only option and get on with it. I know someone who went back to Vancouver to work after being here for a year or two and she got work in the float pool. Overall it seems to have b...

You have to be aware that there's usually a reason a unit is willing to give permanent full time to new grads (ie no one wants to work there). It may end up being okay to work, but it's better to go into it knowing there are likely legit reasons the ...

Actually Saskatchewan usually stays roughly on par with Alberta (intentionally to retain our own grads). I made 35.15/hr in my first year of nursing, including the tiny dispensation for my degree. There was a big deal made in the news here a few yea...

I worked the minimum amount that I could (which turned out to be 2/3 time during school, picking up in summer) throughout school and paid for my education out of pocket. Since I made too much as an aide (and in the first year, had savings) I wasn't e...

There's actually a long standing misperception in some places I've worked that LPNs can't tell people they are "nurses" (totally false and I've told many people so). Even without that, I've noticed that most LPNs I know say they are "LPN"s while most...

1. Saskatchewan 2. Just about finished my first year 3. Nurse A, Medicine 4. 34.94 +.21 for having a degree (woohoo) 5. Shift differential:3.75 weekend premium: 3.10 charge pay: 1.90 6. SUN I made more as a care aide than some of these rates of pay.

4-5:1. I work on medicine/renal and we have two nurses for each team of 8 patients on both days and nights (though on days we have a charge nurse in addition to the team nurses). There will usually be two overcapacity patients on the unit also. If w...

It depends. Reliable patients are left on their own. When I was on neuro we had lots of back surgery pts who were independent. You assess based on history and the pt's condition on that day. If you don't know the pt you can always ask. I worked as...

28 isn't that old--several of my classmates went to nursing school in their 40s (one was even in her 50s). You probably have at least some of the pre-reqs already, why not just ditch nursing school and get the rest of them now then switch to medical ...

I should also add that our teams consist of 1 RN, 1 LPN and 8 patients (or ten if there are overcapacity patients). LPNs in SK have a much greater scope of practice than basically anywhere and thus often function simply as a second nurse, with only a...

We follow team nursing on the unit on which I work. It is often confused with "functional nursing" where each member of the team has a very defined and narrow role (ie vitals or meds). That is not what team nursing is. The main feature is the "team ...

I work in medicine/renal. We do a head to toe assessment (rather than a systems assessment) on all patients at the beginning of shift except those who have been approved for LTC, who are assessed twice a week. On the surgical wards they usually do f...

It depends. I've worked both and they both have their pluses and minuses. 12s however really have to be scheduled right to be advantageous--there have to be longer blocks of time off between them to recover (and have a life). My current job has a dr...

I had issues with the aides at my one job when I WAS an aide. One time I complained to my LPN co-worker that anyone who is afraid to deal with poo should NOT be an aide (this group frequently tried to avoid poop duty whenever they could) and he said ...

SK is kind of behind the curve and we have yet to really reach glut levels, probably because we have better ratios than some other provinces, and a lot of our population is rural. We also haven't been the destination province many people want to go t...

If you're a PN student, I think you'll be just fine. They're usually always shorter on LPNs than RNs, though again, you just have to be willing to go where you're needed. There is going to be a major glut of BScN students in 2015, because that's whe...

The OP was pretty clear that both patients could get the water themselves and one insisted the nurse do it, even though the other patient was perfectly fine with getting her own water. That has nothing to do with courtesy and everything to do with a ...