leotard.paradigm

I most definitely agree! When I spent sometime in the hospital as a patient I had one nurse who was a complete cow to me! I eventually got so tired of her I asked her why she chose nursing if she hated people. Needless to say, she wasn't very pleased about that and I was subject to another week and a half of dirty looks.

Hello, I am starting my first year of nursing school at Bow Valley College in the fall of 2011 and honestly can't wait! I currently volunteer at the FMC and its the highlight of my week! I get to see a lot of the nurses in action, but I have been told that the nurses I see looking after patients bedside are all LPN's. I chose to study LPN instead of RN because I want to be involved with patient care much more than being part of the organization (paper work, orders, etc etc) and such on the unit. I saw a previous post about some of the specialities and such that helped me out immensely, but I still have a few questions that nobody seems to be able to answer for me! Firstly, I'd like to know what exactly LPN's are allowed to do in terms of patient care? Are there certain places LPN's work and others that they are not needed at all? Can LPN's work in Emergency, Surgical Units or Oncology? Also, what am I to expect regarding the way LPN's are treated in the hospital setting? And lastly, I heard a rumour that LPN's would be replacing most of the RN's as they are cheaper to employ and can provide the majority of patient care without an RN. Is this true? Or is this just the admitting staff being way too bored for their own good? Thanks soo much! I know I'm such a newb, but I appreciate your help greatly! :redbeathe

Thank you soo much for asking this! I was wanting to know exactly the same things. =] Best of luck!!:redpinkhe

I know for a fact that there is a specific Burn Unit in the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, AB. I respect your decision to want to go into burn nursing. I would become far too emotional. =]

100% of BVC grads are employed in Health Care! =] Thats where I'll be attending in the fall. If you are successful in the distance program, I give you MAJOR kudos.

Yes! The Foothills Medical Center has opened the McCaig Tower, which is home to orthopedics and day surgery currently, but many other units will be transitioning soon. I've heard that Alberta has had a shortage of nurses, but that could just be rumour. =]

Oh my goodness, I get that all the time from my family. I come from a family full of physicians and pharmacists and they can be so ignorant sometimes. My uncle (who is a pharmacist) asked me why I wanted to become an "orderly". I almost cried I was so mad. >=[ But anyway, I am going into the LPN program in August and I can't wait! I currently volunteer at a hospital in my city, and I love it! I get to see what all the roles are, and the LPN was definitely the most interesting in my opinion. I MAY decide to upgrade to RN, but where I am you can only do the upgrade course online, so that may be out of the question for me. Im sorry you get the same crap from people in your life. =[