holakarly

I used to hate it, too. I found once I specialized and got myself out of a toxic environment it seriously improved. Bounce around til you find colleagues you trust, experiment with different areas, and fake it til you make it. I used to walk in the doors I hated with a smile across my face. I think going in grumpy and downtrodden will make your days worse until you actually find a way to make em better. Good luck, good luck! I agree it's hard to just leave for a random entry level position when you've already trained for this one. There's TONS you can do. Community nursing, public health and teaching, emerg. Don't like people so much anymore? Scrub into the OR! See & help with some seriously cool stuff.

Hello hello, I am a full time emergency RN at a downtown hospital in Vancouver, BC. I've searched through these threads and online for up to date information but am noticing much of it is quite old. I would love to hear fellow nurses input on any of the following: - Where did you go? My husband and I are looking towards Nunavut to really escape city life. We have travelled extensively and for long periods of time to rural areas, however, this level of cold will be very, very new. And lack of daylight hours. How did you cope? - How accessible were snow sports/trekking/any other adventures that you may have gotten involved with? - Did you arrange it through the hospital or through an agency? - What are the housing options like? - Did you find staff welcoming? - Is there actually a substantial pay increase? Or does the high cost of living make it unnoticeable? The only bonus that really caught my attention was a flight back home to visit yearly, as I looked up a flight from Iqaluit to Vancouver return and found nothing less that $3400. Eek! - Did anyone go through nunavutnurses.com? The site pops up the most but seems extremely out of date. - How extreme was the weather? We plan to stay at least a year and will be hitting all seasons. - Did anyone hike the Auyuittuq Pass. - Have couples gone together successfully in the past? My husband is an electrician. Thanks for sharing and wisdom. Any relevant websites or contact info is also greatly appreciated.

I use my stethoscope for every single patient I am responsible for. If I am swamped and can't complete my full assessment for a while, at the very least, I do a quick ABC check and listen to breath sounds. I learned this when I was in emerg and it's been useful since. A status can change fast and the chest X ray can take time for results. I like to listen for fine crackles when I am infusing fluids to the elderly to ensure I can prevent fluid overload. I think breath and bowel sounds are important, hence, I need my stethoscope.

Hi all, I'm a casual RN in Vancouver, Canada. I typically work full time hours, 36-48 hours a week. I have been searching CRNBC's website regarding how much time I can take off next year. My ideal situation is to take 6 months off and travel eastern Africa with my husband. Worst case scenario, I will quit and find a job when I get home. However, is there any way I can get around this since I am casual? I read something along the lines of you must work 250 hours a year to keep a casual position and that if you don't pick up a shift once in 6 months you will need to have a meeting to discuss this. I am wondering if there are any fellow travellers out there that know the ins and outs of going abroad and keeping your position. Any and all advice is appreciated!!

Hi all, I know there have been a few threads in regards to volunteering abroad, however, I have searched them and found them to be outdated or not very helpful. I am wondering if any of you nurses have worked or volunteered abroad in rural areas. How was the experience and how did you get connected? I have been searching for a while and so many of the experiences seem to have a "donation" requirement of upwards of $1000+ a month. I am very skeptical of these establishments. I have traveled extensively in my pre-nursing days and even throughout nursing school. I did a short volunteer stint in Honduras as well. This was organized by a nursing friend to found the clinic and contacted them directly. Any information or tips you can give are greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone! Congrats to all you guys starting in Aug. I'm just finishing up level one at BCIT now, I had used this site to talk to other applicants during the process too! It's a totally crazy experience but not as intimidating as everyone's telling you, you'll be able to handle it! My advice: Do all the pre-readings and learn the material really well! This is going to make Nursing 1019 a breeze. My intake (Jan 2012) only had 6 weeks to prep after we received our acceptance letters so you guys are pretty lucky. The Nursing 1019 book is the Jarvis text. Also, look on facebook for the BCIT Nursing group, everyone sells their used textbooks on there and it will save you tons of money. And one word of advice once you've bought your texts: Be very, very careful if you sell them after level 1, you will be using most of them throughout the duration of your degree. Feel free to ask any other Q's! This site was an invaluable help for me!!

They sent out a reading list saying what chapters we have to read in the Jarvis textbook.. They omit some stuff but yeah, it's quite a bit!!

Hey again! So I just went and finished getting my books (ouch$) and was wondering about what you guys think of the drug cards?? I think there were two kinds at the bookstore, Mosby's and Mediquick(?). I'm a flash card lover so I was definitely intrigued by these and when I was flipping thru them the backs were just covered in information. What do you guys think? They had lots of little flip books for quick info which I was also thought could be useful. Good luck to everyone with the 20 or so chapters of pre reading lol.

I think the wait would depend whenever a student who has been held a seat withdraws, so could be anytime up until start date! Good luck! I dropped my immunization sheets in the main building at the services area (I've only been in this building twice now, the area where you queue up to drop off documents) and she didn't charge me the $30 fee the form said they would. Did any of you pay yet?

When I was ordering books to ship to my place here 9/10 books could not be shipped to Canada. I'm pretty sure that's because I was picking the cheapest books I could find, and the majority of those are from independent sellers, which for the most part do not ship internationally. When I searched on .ca I noticed that the independent sellers listings did not appear to canadian buyers.

My friend has a bit of an online shopping addiction and in this case it worked out pretty well for me. Except I can't seem to find those two books any cheaper... Almost $400 for 2 textbooks.. Ouch.

I just got them all shipped to my girlfriends P.O box in Blaine. So at least just one shop and hopefully no border trouble lol.

Chhun3 - I don't have any of the electives done, but I did have 62 university credits and I'm hoping at least 2 of them will be given transfer credit. Also, I spent the last year working full time at a retirement home and that's about it.

I know I had that problem with amazon as well... I actually have to drive down to the states to pick them all up so that's a little annoying but I did find it to be a lot cheaper this way...

How do you guys feel about the optional books? So far I've gotten one of them.. Went in today to ask my doctor to go over my immunization form and she went ahead and just gave me all the immunizations I needed and blood test since I couldn't find my Hep B records from, I don't know, 13 years ago lol. I'm excited to start soon! Even though my left arm got poked with 3 needles and 2 in my right! I've ordered all but 4 of the books now, still trying to see if I can find better deals but not really having luck with the Canadian Fundamentals or the Physical Examination books.