DawnE

Hi Sarah, Fredericton is nice. It's the capital city of NB and a university town. Not big, which is what I like about NB. It is hotter in the summer and colder in the winter than if you go near the coast. They get plenty of snow. You should be able to rent something very close to the city that is basically in the county...you don't have to go far to get into the woods. Watch out for moose. They are a hazard on the highways. The DECH (DR. Everett Chalmers) is on the Lincoln & Oromocto side of Fredericton, near the Trans-Canada (Hwy 2) and Hwy 7 from Saint John, but then nothing is far in Fredericton. My dad lives in Lincoln. It would be about 10 minutes from the hospital. Oromocto would be about 20 minutes. Geary, Waasis, and Rusagonis aren't far either. I am not familiar with those communities, but they are close. It would be great if you can get on part time, but don't sweat it if you can't, get your foot in the door by going casual. Assuming that you can only get on as casual, I don't know if the DECH has a central float pool, of if each floor/unit has it's own casual staff. I forgot...there is a hospital in Oromocto also, smaller of course, but come to think of it, I don't thing they deliver babies. You will have to go to the DECH ot to Saint John which is about 1 hour away. The nurses in NB were the lowest paid in the country. They have just signed a new contract and got a nice raise. I don't know what the starting rate is, but if you have a lot of experience I don't think it is out of the question to get credit for some years of experience. You might do better than $17-21 working casual since you won't have benefits you get a higher rate of pay. I don't know how it works for immigrants and health care, but I imagine that within 3 months of working you would be covered. You won't have health premiums to pay, no co-pays etc., except for additional insurance, usually Blue Cross, which pays for your prescriptions and things like physiotherapy or chiropractor. Blue Cross is usually a benefit and if you are casual, you will have to buy it yourself. The other thing about NB is that real estate is cheaper especially out of the city. If you want more info or to chat, why don't you email me. I don't check this board very often lately.

I lived and worked in NB for 13 years. Now I am in North Carolina. where will you be moving to in NB? There are 3 main cities and a bunch of small cites/towns. I worked in Saint John...(note always spell the SAINT in full) on Peds. There is a level 2 NICU there and of course, L&D or case room as it is sometimes called. Fredericton would have the same...any neonates requiring major surgury are shipped to Halifax. Moncton had a french and an english hospital. I am not sure about Edmunston (northern NB, near the Quebec border), but you would likely have to speak french there. Now, what kind of job do you want...full time, part time, casual? In a lot of places you can only get on in a casual position because the unionized system means that the jobs are all posted in house first and are usually snapped up by casual nurses. In some places you can get prebooked hours, but not always. As casual you are expected to be available in the event that you are needed. Now that's not so say that you have to sit by the phone. You can book off some days as "unavailable". A lot of casual nurses carry pagers or cell phones so that they don't miss calls. If you have more specific questions just ask. NB is a beautiful place, very friendly, varied climate...I do miss it.

Does your unit have a policy/protocol for giving of IV meds? What I am looking for is: What do you prime med lines with...the med or N/S or D5? How long do you give meds over? Now I know this depends on the med...say Gent for example...we give the med over 20 minutes and the flush over 10, but depending on the volume of med, and volume of flush neccessary to get all of the med to the main line fluids, is the med really going infusing in 30 minutes? We use Medfusion pumps. Thanks a bunch,

We double check MBM...at least in theory. Our system is rediculous. I take a baby's label, get the milk from the nutrition room, put what I need in a syringe or bottle, label the syringe or bottle and then have another nurse in my pod check that the label matches the baby. No one checks the milk as I get it from the fridge. Then we both initial on the chart. I believe there should be a check, but our system doesn't check anything except that I got the right patient label.

We used a product called Mefix on the cheeks and then Tegaderm overtop with and just extending slightly over the Mefix. The GT is in between the two. Used this method for nasal cannula also.

A yeast rash has little pimple like spots usually. Corn starch is really good, but don't let it cake, just a light dusting. BTW, baby powder is actually very harmful if inhaled. Where I worked we did not recommend its use anymore.

I moved from New Brunswick to North Carolina. Cost me a fortune!!! I used a moving company.

Thanks for the replies. What is a Junior sister? Thanks

I spent 14 years on a Canadian peds floor and PICU and now work in a US NICU. I wouldn't say that Circs are done routinely in Canada or the US. It is much less common than it was, say, 20 years ago. I would estimate that less than 1/4 of the boys in our NICU are circ'd by the time they are discharged. About cervical cancer...I think that HPV infection is a much more significant risk factor. Maybe this site might help answer your questions...my sister is a member. http://www.eyesontheprize.org/

I have seen jobs listed for different grades of nurses in the UK. Could someone please explain this to me and tell me what grade a Diploma RN from Canada would be?