Glimpsethepast

And yet again a new nurse gets blasted over asking a question. Ontario Gent, I for one appreciate your question and it made me think that PSWs should have a governing body as well. Every other health profession does including nurses, dental hygienists, dental assistants, xray technologists, opticians, etc. BUT as Dishes states the College of Nurses won't touch this. Maybe there will be a college for Personal Support Workers??

I have been a nurse for 27 years. When I started out as a casual 'call in' I worked every single holiday and did this for three years straight. Once I became 'part time' I was then eligible to work one, have one off. I had young children by then so I was grateful to get that every second Christmas off. I have been fulltime for several years now, the kids are grown, and now I find myself actually volunteering to work Christmas day. I still celebrate usually in the evening or my next day off. Because I have been with the same hospital for all these years I get a tremendous amount of vacation time. I tend to request vacation days just before Christmas and just after and I always get them ? This way I get quality time with the kids and grandchildren, and still know maybe I have helped out a MOM or DAD with a young family to have the BIG day off.:

Hello, I am so sorry for the troubles you are enduring. It is a sad fact that LTC facilities are severly understaffed. Because of that, new CNA's with caring attitudes leave their chosen career because of the PRESSURE to 'hurry up'. I am a clinical supervisor for first and second semester PSW (Personal Support Worker) students. It is a year long program in Ontario Canada that trains students to work with residents in LTC. Students are only given 4 residents in their final semester clinical, most are able to perform all neccessay duties in a timely fashion. Unfortunately school life does not mimic real life. You are doing well to always keep your patient's needs first and you sound like a very compassionate CNA. I wish I had a solution for you, but I don't. I do know that in the general hospital setting where I work fulltime as a registered practical nurse on a surgical unit, the PSWs only do very minimal patient care. I believe the work load is not as strenuous for them, they are still very busy but it is more transporting patients to and fro, setting up meal trays, stocking supplies, bedmaking,etc. Maybe working in a hospital setting would be better for you. Best of luck.

Gosh, sorry to hear of your troubles. I am an RPN at an acute care hospital in Ontario therefore I am NEVER in the position of being a 'charge nurse', however I am a clinical supervisor for first and second semester PSW students and second semester PN students. On occasion it has happened when a student has questioned authority, or prehaps has been down right insubordinate. On those occasions I have dealt directly with the student involved, away from other staff, students, and patients. I ALWAYS have another registered staff member in the room with me to act as a witness. The conversation is calm, and direct. Always begin with a positive note i.e. "Your assigned patient seems very pleased with the bed bath you did on her this morning, well done, however I am concerned that .........." I hope this has helped at least a little bit. Good Luck and hang in there!

Okay, thank you very much for the replies. I myself am a nurse in Ontario Canada, for now on I will post on the USA site if I have questions pertaining to them.

Hello, good for you and keep up the great work in achieving your goals! I have been an RPN since 1984. I work on a surgical unit in a general hospital located about 4 hours north of Toronto. Been at the same job since I graduated. I make a base wage of $28.00 per hour. BUT when I work the night rotation which is every two weeks and when I work weekends which is every second week my wage increases to approx. $32.00 an hour. I get FULL benefits, more benefits than I could ever possibly use unless I or my family gets seriously ill. Hope this helps a bit. Being an RPN is extremely rewarding. I highly recommend it! (Incidently when I started at the hospital I was making $8.00 an hour and was only casual 'call in'. It took about 3 years before I got on as a perm. part time with 3 shifts per week. Took another 5 YEARS to get fulltime. BUT that was then, back in the day when RPNs were considered glorified bed bathers. Today RPNs are sought after...LOTS of jobs!

:confused:Hello, I have recently posted a thread that NO ONE has responded to, I am sure it is because I am a 'dinosaur' when it comes to nursing. But I being as clueless as I guess I am, want to know the difference between the USA ASSOCIATES degree as a RN and the BScN. Is the Associates degree somewhat equivilent to what the college level RN was here in Canada, which is, in my very humble OPINION (don't shoot me) now the RPN program? It gets a bit confusing when I am reading all the info from the USA, they have RNs with associate degrees, RNs with BScNs, RNs from hospitals, LVNs, LPNs, CNAs, Medical Assistants, Medication Technicians etc etc. Just purely wondering, no reason, just curious as always. Thank you for any info anyone gives. Best Regards.

I also have to state my observation on this topic. In Ontario RPNs (LPN) are constantly being recruited. Two of my nieces just graduated from the 2.5 year program at Georgian College and both of them obtained employment immediately afterwards. The hospital where I am employed also hires new grad PNs on a regular basis. :)

Congratulations on your recent graduation as an RN! My advice to you is to be truthful, but in a positive light. You failed once but you persevered and did a redo, if anything you came out of the MED-SURG component even more knowledgable than some of your fellow peers who passed the first time through. Good luck to you

At the hospital I am employed with we recieve an additional amt added to our hourly wage for our 12 night shifts AND for working Saturdays and Sundays regardless if it is a day shift or night shift.

I work on a surgical floor. Currently on day shift (we do 12 hours) between 4 to 8 patients. On nights between 6 to 12 patients. Our hospital is BRAND SPANKING NEW, the building that is. Prior to moving into the new location our floor was Med - Surg and we all had more assigned pts for each shift but it was split between pts with more complex issues and pts more stable and only requiring observation, guidance and continuing assessment.

WOW I have to put my two cents in on this subject of 'phasing out LPNs' Here in Ontario Canada we are called Registered Practical Nurses. Since I graduated from my program back in 1984 I have heard the same thing.....RPNs are being phased out. This continued up until about 5 or 6 years ago. NOW RPNs are being recruited constantly! I would imagine the main reason is because RPNs earn a great deal less than the BScN RN. Our program is only two full years where as the BScN is four full years. Here in Ontario RPNs work in acute care hospitals as 'floor nurses', in LTCs as 'charge nurses' and in every aspect of home nursing, not to mention psychiatric facilities, prisons, schools, and teaching the Personal Support Worker programs. It took many years but I feel that RPNs have finally come into their own. I am greatful I live and work in my province where we are respected for what we can do which is a great deal.

I too continue to wear my grad pin each and every shift. As for the cap, I only wear it during nurses week and I am happy to do so. Never owned a navy cape but my Mother did. I have fond memories of my Mom coming home from work in her white dress with the navy cape over her shoulders, carrying her starched cap. That was back in the late 1960's.

Oh my gracious. Reading this post about only being offered $10.00 per hour makes me so very greatful for the job and wage I have. I am a Registered Practical Nurse in Ontario Canada (similar to LPN except our program is a full two years in length. My current wage is close to $30.00 per hour, mind you I work on a med surg unit at a general hospital. For an RN to only make $10.00 it is just too crazy!

Oh my gracious, I just thought of a few other things related to this topic. While in my own training, I had some friends also in nursing programs in other schools. I remember the students at the college in North Bay Ontario wore plastic caps (kind of like bleach bottle material), they had double thin RED bands. The students that attended the BScN at the University in Sudbury had starched plain white caps throughtout their four years. The students from the community college in Sudbury wore starched white little rounded caps, that in my opinion looked hideous....LOL. One last afterthought. My own Mother was a nurse and she handed me a tip early in my training about the starching of the cap. The school recommended that we have the caps professionally starched but my Mom told me how to make my own starch and to iron it into the cap, let it dry and repeat. IT WORKED!!! Never once in my entire time as a student did I have to have my cap starched professionally. I was able to launder on a regular basis as well, keeping it fresh and clean.