lisajtrn

I remember being told many years ago that the word "appears" should never be found in a patient note. State the facts. Rather than saying appears to be comfortable, state the facts, i.e.: resting in bed, eyes closed, reading, no facial grimacing etc......

Honestly, you don't even know what you don't know precisely

We have had BSN entry to practice for some time now and I agree it is a ploy to move the RN away from the bedside and have less expensive RPN"s /LPN's replace us.

LOL---Most definitely. You would never do compressions on someone who is talking to you.

I work in a hospital in Ontario, Canada. Most hospitals here are under the Ontario Nurses Association union. A nurse at top of pay scale makes about $44.00/hour. Of course there are shift premiums, can't remember exactly what they are at the moment. I believe they would look at your years of experience and put you at top of scale. Toronto is a quite expensive for housing. I don't want to divulge too much about my locale so if you want to PM me I will do my best to get back to you. I can tell you that experienced ICU nurses are in demand.

The scope of practice of the RPN has increased quite a bit in the last few years. I was an RPN before becoming RN and we did not give meds, hang blood, start IV's . They have now been doing this for a few years. Some were very ill-prepared to do so but the hospitals have pushed them into this. They were given little training by the hospitals. You have to remember that some of the older RPN's went to school when they were not taught any of these skills. I can see at some point in the future the floors being staffed by RPN's with RN' s in managerial positions. A coworker was employed in Texas for a while, met her husband there. He is a LPN, she is RN, she was amazed at what the LPN's were doing there compared to here at that time, about 15 years ago.

As a person who has lost a loved one, due in part to nurses who were unable to recognize and intervene a serious event. I most definitely will not have any of my loved ones looked after again by poorly prepared nursing staff. I will demand someone with experience who can properly assess a patient and call for medical assistance when needed. I won't care that this nurse never wrote a research paper in proper APA format or that her education doesn't make her a "well-rounded" individual. All I care about is that she/he can provide the care the patient needs.

The scope of practice of the RPN has increased quite a bit in the last few years. I was an RPN before becoming RN and we did not give meds, hang blood, start IV's . They have now been doing this for a few years. Some were very ill-prepared to do so but the hospitals have pushed them into this. They were given little training by the hospitals. You have to remember that some of the older RPN's went to school when they were not taught any of these skills. I can see at some point in the future the floors being staffed by RPN's with RN' s in managerial positions. A coworker was employed in Texas for a while, met her husband there. He is a LPN, she is RN, she was amazed at what the LPN's were doing there compared to here at that time, about 15 years ago.

I transferred to ICU about 6 months ago after working med-surg for 13+ years. One of the reasons I want to go back to med-surg is the "I'm an ICU nurse" attitude that I see so much of. The love of being able to say I'm an ICU nurse is what seems to draw in a lot of the young, new grads. The superiority that permeates the air in the unit is far more than I can stomach and it isn't even superiority over me any longer, just in general. Too much arrogance, there are some really nice people too, don't get me wrong. I for one am heading back to medicine asap.

The staff nurses don't walk out. Management is walked out to their car by security. They come in to work and at some point are called to a meeting where upper management is waiting with security. They are then taken to their office to get purse, coat and a few personal items but nothing else. They are locked out of the computer system and escorted to their car by security. It is a very sad situation. Some of these people are nurses who have dedicated their lives to the hospital, make the foolish decision to accept a management job, find they can't in all good conscience nickel and dime the way upper management insists they do, on the backs of the staff nurses and are walked out. My last manager was walked out shortly after having a conversation with me in which she hinted at the demands made of her and her inability to treat staff the way they wanted her to. I have to tell you that most staff nurses are aware that it takes a certain type of personality to be in management and that includes the type of person who expects things from staff that will save money in spite of working conditions and safety. If you can be ruthless and put the almighty dollar before staff satisfaction and safety then management may be for you, if not and you value these things you will be walked out in short order. At least that is the way it is in my facility.

I live in Ontario Canada and here a BSN has been required since 2005. All diploma programs were stopped shortly before then. We never had ADN. I do not have a BSN and have absolutely no interest in getting it. Like the previous post said why would I spend the money to do the same job I am doing. You can be hired into different jobs as long as you graduated before 2005. A nurse from the US would either have had to graduate before then with ADN or if they graduated after that would have to have a BSN as well. We have a number of people from the US working here. Those of us without a BSN, and that is the majority still, do not have to obtain a BSN at all. We are all considered equal when it comes to front-line nursing jobs.

In my hospital most that have left nursing and gone into management are walked out after a few years. I don't know what it is like there. Upper management wants things done that go against most nurse-minded individuals and you need to be quite ruthless to satisfy their needs, it seems. I would never, ever consider leaving the union and going into management.

I know all about the ego quirks. I get along with everyone just fine and I can do my job perfectly well. I just can't tolerate the way some behave and the attitude they have towards nurses in other areas. There are some that don't feel superior to others but the ones that do just ruin the atmosphere for everyone else.

I transferred to ICU after 10 years as an RN on the floor and was an RPN for 3 years before that on the same floor. This is my second career. I am most likely going back to the floor as soon as an opening becomes available. The "princess" mentality and "we are better than all other nurses" is far more than I can stomach.

If you are unionized make sure you have a union rep in the meeting.