AndyBRN

I willl mention however, that most institutions generally will maximize the scope of practice for both RN and RPN. Main differences I've seen include: - IV push below the drip chamber (RN only) - Acute Care Areas such as ED, ICU, CCU (RN only) - Higher acuity patients on general care areas (RN only) Other than these limitations, the skills in practice are actually quite minimal. I have met a number of RPNs who are incredibly skilled and knowledgeable. It matters on person, not on their degree.

It's actually quite a bit different here in Canada, in terms of education for RN vs. RPN. RPNs are educated at a college level for 2 years. The program is more skills-oriented, with less focus on research. RNs are educated at a University level for 4 years. RNs receive either a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing (BScN) or a Bachelor's in Nursing (BN). Prior to 2005, RNs could be educated in colleges and receive a "diploma" so to speak. After 2005, RNs had to attend an accredited University and obtain a Bachelor's Degree. Pre-2005 RNs can bridge their diploma into a Bachelor's Degree, should they wish to pursue their Master's. There are also accelerated RN programs for individuals for have prior degrees and courses completed to use toward their Nursing degree. These programs are 2 years long. Offered by institutions such as University of Toronto. RNs focus on broad, theoretical knowledge, coupled with clinical rotations. Rotations in clinical practice cover the continuum of care, focussing on long term care, acute care, specialized areas and community health. In a purely economic sense, it's better to be an RN. On Ontario, an RPN caps out their hourly rate a whole 3 dollars below the starting rate for an entry-level RN. From a practice standpoint, your options as an RN far exceed that of an RPN. Master's Degree, Nurse Practitioner, Extended Class RN and Advanced Practice Nurse, just to name a few.

I'll tell you from my experience. Graduated June 2011 from BScN program (I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada). Landed full time job in a large teaching hospital right out of school. Part of Ontario's New Graduate Guarantee Initiative to get new grads full time jobs. Have been working this job for 2 years almsot now. 6 months ago (roughly 1.5 years into career) I interviewed for a casual medicine job in CCC. Easily offered me the job and thought my psych experience was an asset. All in all, you CAN get a medicine job easily. ANYONE can be taught manual skills. Being in any environment for a while, you will learn the routine and critical thinking. Besides, who wants to do something so task-oriented and robotic as medical bedside nursing? Haha! Anyways...you can get a job on medical floors in the future if you want too. Keep your learning up with post-graduate cont. ed. courses such as coronary care, etc. Your psych skills will come in handy on any medical floor, because mental health issues are pervasive in ALL populations. Also, you will get medical experience on inpatient psychiatric units. MANY psych patients have medical issues/comorbidities. Antipsychotics cause tremendous issues with metabolic abnormality, resulting in diabetes, CAD, etc. Psych patients still require things like IVs, blood work, ECG, catheters, wound care, you name it. Besides, it all comes back you anyways But you don't need medical experience prior to starting in psych.

Have not worked with adolescents, but I'd probably not really enjoy working with them. Currently work in a teaching hospital in Toronto with a large population of homeless and underhoused populations. No pediatrics in this facility beside LnD. Love working with adults, and particularly the population that I work with being in the inner city. It's incredibly rewarding and humbling. I'd imagine that I would have WAY too much counter-transference with the adolescents and there would be MANY instances of eating disorders/adjustment disorder/Axis 2/Cluster B traits on an adolescent unit. Thank goodness the DSM V is removing age restrictions on personality disorders!

By nursing standards, the order written by the physicians must have parameters for giving and/or holding the medication. Typically, I have seen Hydralazine given if SBP is greater to or equal to 160. However, this must be indicated by the order parameters by the physician. Hope this helps!

This can happen in a unionized hospital as well. Usually under the collective agreement and job description, it talks about rotating shifts, ability to work alternating weekends, holidays, etc. If a staff member chooses to swap day and night shifts with their opposite line partner on the schedule, that is their decision, however it could be revoked within the rights of the manager.

Hello everyone! My name is Andrew and I am a Registered Nurse, practicing in Canada. I currently am working as a Registered Nurse in Mental Health, practicing on the inpatient unit, short stay crisis and psychiatric emergency services. I have been doing this for 1.5 years since I graduated in 2011. I love what I do with my patients and love this area of nursing. Every day I come to work I look forward to it and enjoy building relationships with my patients and providing care for them. I am work casually on a Complex Continuing Care Unit for the past 2 months and I absolutely hate it! I get anxiety thinking about going there and at the end of the day, I don't enjoy the work I do there. But for some reason, I feel compelled to subject myself to the stress, because people seem to "covet" medical nursing so much and don't give psychiatric nurses the credit they deserve for the work they do. I picked up this job to keep my skills current and learn some new experiences, however I feel the job is very stressful, and the workload is quite overwhelming (6 total care patients, bed bound, acute issues, 3/6 of them have trachs and PEGs, etc) and I am seriously considering quitting, but I don't know what to do. I have spoken with the educator and fellow staff, and they all validate my concerns about the overwhelmingly heavy workload. Do any of you have any ideas for me? Are there other psychiatric nurses here that share the same feelings that I do? I love psych and this is the speciality that I think I want to work in, however I feel like I should have these medical skills for the sake of the skills, for when I apply for my Master's program.