Balder_LPN

Other than my Army buddies I am about the only person I know with two of these scars. We received smallpox vaccinations during induction to the army in the 1980's and were in the age group that had received them in school. I was in an infantry rapid deployment force unit and we had to be vaccinated to travel anywhere in the world with no notice. We tried to talk them out of it as in our age group at the time we all had the scar on our arm as 'proof' we had been vaccinated. We were told that the vaccines we had received 17-24yrs ago were not completely effective and everyone would need it again. Although we received several vaccines with the jet device show above the Smallpox was done with by hand with a bifurcated needle. And yes, I remember vastly different reactions in individuals. One guy wound up in the hospital with small pox in his eyes, they showed us pictures of him, from scratching at the scab and then touching his eyes. You may find more info on ppl who have given this vaccine recently in the military nursing forums. The last naturally occurring case was in 1977, but I believe soldiers still get the vaccine out of concern that small pox may be used for biological warfare.

So are you guys saying no ADN jobs ANYWHERE? What about LTC, SNF, urgent care, etc etc? Any way the CC are so cheap and the progression looks so smooth I don't see any advantage spending the extra money to go straight to UA after finish the LPN refresher. It costs more and doesnt deliver my BSN any faster than if I finish my ADN and then do the RN-BSN bridge

Anyway, Lawyers will jump in an instant when the right offer comes along. Which is why they so often have contracts that specify lengthy notice periods and non-compete agreements. Doctors too. I went thru 4 PCP in 3 years with one clinic. Finally left the clinic because (for what ever reason) they couldn't keep doctors, and therefor could not meet my expectations for continuity of care.

Just to address one very narrow issue with this; How can this be practicing medincine w/o a license? If I give a pt an aspirin (or any treatment) in a clinical environment w/o DO then I am practicing medicine w/o a license. But if I do that to myself, my child, my parent at home that is not considered practicing medicine. Same here. Theft and poor judgement, certainly. But not practicing medicine. From WA state law defining practice of medicine; (2) Administers or prescribes drugs or medicinal preparations to be used by any other person;

With the segregation of men and women, wouldn't there be a significant demand for men who are nurses?

Well, it's a REALLLLY long swim. or, perhaps, I enjoy just being a househusband. In reality it has been difficult to pull myself away from what is a fun and well paid job here. But ultimately it is just a job and not a career. Nursing is what I am called to do. So even though it means my wife and I will be apart for some time, I have just purchased my ticket for Vancouver (closest airport to my hometown) and received my license for AZ. Back to school at last. Orientation Feb 4th. I'll update the Canadian forum when we head north. BTW - I do recognize that getting a job as a new grad BSN from out of the area will be difficult in Victoria or the Lower Mainland. that (and the fact that we are a bit bored with those areas, as that is where we have spent many years) is why we will go up island or even to the Queen Charlottes. After a lot of research I would suggest to anyone looking for a nursing job in BC to look to places like Alert Bay, or the northern interior of BC. Many of the HCA's have had the same FT nursing jobs listed as open for more than 6 months. The further you get away from Vic and Van the better it looks.

^^^^^This And the OP states he has had this haircut since he was a small boy and has grown into it. I doubt that is the case. Usually we grow OUT of things rather than IN to them. Especially haircuts. I remember when my barber refused to renew my flat top. explained that just wasnt working for me as I got older, fine on little boys and retired marine, but as a guy in my 30's it was time to reconsider my doo. He was right.

I have not practiced for several years and have just recieved my LPN for school only license (thats what they call it) so I can attend the LPN refresher course at Gateway, immediately followed by the LPN-RN bridge program. Does anyone know what ED Techs make in the area and how hard the jobs are to get? I have the qualifications for it and it I have done it before. It seems that would be a good flexible job for the first five months I am there. Any tips from anyone on that?

As I noted in another thread, the local hospital in my home town has several nurses who are men. The most requested (yes, pt's coming back for baby 2 3 or 4 make requests) is a man.

Mostly just on this board. A few of my fellow students also, but they got past that after the first term in nursing school. But in actual practice I havent seen it at all.

The local hospital in my home town has several male nurses in OB. In fact, the most requested nurse in that department is a guy. You are perpetuating stereotypes yourself. Please explain to me why you think gender 'really matters' in OB?

I'm patronizing? 'just a house husband' REALLY? come on. maybe there is some difference in training between US and Canada. We teach nurses not to be judgmental or sexist. Doesn't mean it sinks in on all of us. That is as bad as if I were to refer to you as 'sweetie' , which I would never do, by the way. (even before I became a nurse) Do you have any friends who are 'just housewives' and if so would you refer to them in that way. BTW, except for 90 days after I got out of the Army, I have worked my whole life. I guess for that 90 days I was 'just' a house husband. My wife was just a housewife for about 10 years. I think you should pause in the mirror before tossing around 'patronizing' again. Anyway, I am off to Phoenix first to complete my BSN. Then we will likely be going up Island or to the Queen Charlottes possibly. There are many full time jobs available in the more remote areas, which are very appealing to us. In fact BC has such demand for nurses in those areas there is a special immigration program for BSN's with one year experience. Not eligible for Jobs in Victoria or the Lower Mainland. I don't mind continuing the conversation. But try to be civil please.

I'm doing the LPN refresher course in February, is this what you guys are in?

You seem to think that because I am in the US I can't possibly know anything about nursing in BC. If proximity is how you determine that then I am in a far better position to be in the know that is for sure. I am only 1 hour drive from Vancouver, less than 20 minutes from Canada. I do work with nurses here who are Canadian and live in the lower mainland. There are certainly some reasons to do that. However I also know at least 3 Canadian nurses recently who had the same negative attitude as you about job availability in BC, and they are now all working in BC. Hmmmmm. You may have a friend working in BC who thinks there are no jobs. I do know someone who sets up new clinics for one of the health authorities, and there are jobs. I have noticed in my own area, and other places I have been, that the people complaining about lack of jobs are generally people who have some serious issues with negative attitude in general, and are often people who get only a minimal recommendation from past employers. Often due to problems with coworkers or pt's/families, attendance, and or attitude towards their management - all seem to be common pretty common among nurses having trouble finding / changing employment. Just saying. Don't take it personal. I'll let you know when I relocate to BC how long it takes me to get a job.

You do realize I was responding to a comment in this thread? Regardless of if it is a 'Canadian' forum. I made an appropriate response to a previous post. As I will respond to yours. This seems to be a quite appropriate venue to discuss the (few) differences in nursing between the US and Canada. The scope of practice of an LPN varies from state to state. As I said (maybe you didnt read my whole post before you started snapping) in WA state the scope of practice is very broad for an LPN. And the reason there are fewer LPN's in the hospital setting in the US is precisely because of unions. In the non unionized areas there are more LPN's - its a fact. The 'nurses' unions in the US should be called "RN" unions as I am not aware of any (there must be a few) that include LPN's in the union. In my area the union works hard to try and disparage and eliminate LPN positions wherever/whenever possible as the unions job is to protect the jobs of the members (RN's)

While the great majority of LPN positions in the US are in LTC there is certainly no restrictions where LPNs work. Nursing unions work hard to get rid of LPNs as the unions represent RNs and try to make the best money job security for their members. In my home in WA state LPNs work in all areas of nursing, Acute care, ER, Dialysis, Family care, PACU, etc etc. In fact, in WA the Scope of practice of LPN's allows IV Push meds, wound care, trach care, etc. The primary difference here between an LPN and an RN is that an RN must do the initial assessment on complicated patients, and an LPN cannot initiate (or 'Hang') a blood transfusion, but may monitor the transfusion. So in the PACU the RN does initial assessment and then can delegate full care to the LPN. In the acute care and ER settings the LPN is usually task oriented rather than assuming full PT care. LPN's are often charge nurses and perform PT assessment and write care plans for stable pt's in the LTC setting.

Why is there such a clamor about "lack of jobs"? I was just looking at several of the BC health authorities and ONE of them had 250 nursing jobs open. Many are for entry level nurses and many only require 1-2 years experience. This is for all level of nurses. There must be over 500 nurse openings in just BC that I found advertised, and I only spent an hour. Many of them are "casual" but that leads to being able to apply for the internal openings once you are an employee and as we know many 'casual' jobs are full time from the get go. I also know someone at VCH who sets up new clinics and she thinks VCH is very short on nurses. I am heading to AZ to complete my BSN and then I will be immigrating to BC. I get family sponsorship so will be a permanent resident when I apply. Will probably go for one of the more remote coastal areas of BC and move down to Vancouver or Victoria in a few years.

I am headin to AZ and can place into the second year of the RN program with my LPN. Concurrent enrollment to ASU and there is only one more semester to complete BSN. with your BS it would likely elim a few courses like microbiology and such and give you a little less course load.

You must speak Chinese to enroll in any nursing program in HK. Clinical are in public hospitals filled mostly with older lower income pts who don't speak English. There are BSN and MSN programs conducted I. English but you cannot comets clinicals without speaking Chinese. I am returning to US in Januaey to complete my BSN at Az State U. HK is still on the UK system (they try to be England 40 years ago in many aspects for education to law etc) and they have enrolled muses. But as a white male enrolled nurse I would never get a job here. The local culture is , overall, very narrow and closed minded. Racism, sexism, and ageism rear their ugly heads at all extremes constantly. Had some fun here , glad we did it , but can't wait to get out o this place!

Good info MusicEMT. Very factual. On the stories of ecigs exploding - I don't believe there are any cases of this being caused by defective ecigs. The cause is invariably that the user cleaned with rubbing alcohol and then used the Ecig causing ignition of the alcohol vapors. The directions say to let the vaporizer air dry over nite in a well ventilated space after cleaning or an explosion may occur. They don't mysteriously just explode. It is user error.

I think for the next debate you should suggest - The pros and cons of women with children working as nurses or Should homosexuals (male or female) be allowed to work as nurses. Yes I am being sarcastic. But trying to make the point thatdebating these subjects are just as ludicrous as debating pros and cons of men in nursing. Perpetuates ignorant, backwards stereotypes. Actually I rarely participate in this forum because that it pretty much what it is about.

As a nurse and small time e-cig distributor I discuss these as a "less harmful alternative" to smoking. There is evidence to support this and also that smokers who begin to use ecigs use less tobacco products and some even quit. No one should start these if they don't smoke. But be aware that some people can be allergic to propylene glycol which is an ingredient in the nicotine juice. This would be an obvious contraindication. Had a customer scare the bejesus out of me with that one while doing a try n buy. Btw- my wife and I and several of my customers have quit with these. One guy who smoked 40 cigs a day for 50 years now uses 3-5 cigs day plus some Ecig. While it is true you can smoke one for hours most only do this the first day or two. In fact, many people will have just a drag or two when the urge gets them when they would otherwise have smoked a whole cig. The fact that big tobacco has their lawyers out around the world to fight these things should be telling you something.

HIPAA always applies. There is no exception for the "owner" of the records. Read about covered entities in HIPAA. Both NPS and the practice itself are covered entities and the minimum info rule applies. The CEO at a hospital can't access your records just for a look see. Contact a lawyer that specializes in HIPAA of a Nurse legal specialist.

You MUST speak Cantonese to enroll in the nursing programs in Hong Kong. I just went over to HKU in person and found out. There ARE however jobs at hospitals such as matilda hospital, a private hosp catering to expats that you DON'T have to speak chinese to work at. there are at least one or two more like that here also, I will post when I find out.

I am living in hong kong and just went to find out about enrolling in the BSN program at HKU and you must speak chinese (cantonese preferred) to enroll in the nursing program. HKU is an English speaking university, but if you can't access your patients then how can you nurse. Any one about 40-45 or younger here speaks at least SOME English, most pretty well. I was here for over a week before I encountered anyone who didnt speak english. But since so many of the pt's are elderly you must speak cantonese and/or mandarin.