Should I switch careers? (Canada)

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Hello everyone. I need some honest advice. I am currently in my first year of a new job, I am working 14 hr days from monday to friday, plus an additional almost full day every sunday getting prepared for the week. I live in Canada. With putting in about 70 hours a week, i am finding myself increadibly exhausted, unhappy. I don't get paid OT and i am Salaried so I have to get a certain amount of work done regardless of the hours it takes me. I am highly considering becomming and LPN. Do lpns have to work 70 hours a week? or is it more around the 40-50 mark? I am perfectly fine nad happy with 40-50 but right now I am not happy and since I am only 24 I want to make the switch next year and start applying now because I do not see things getting easier for me in the future. How many weeks paid vacation do LPNs in Canada get to start? What is the starting rate? I would plan on taking the bridge program through Athabasca while I start too.

Specializes in Med/Surg, LTC/Geriatric.

We have LPNs bridging into our class this semester (I am in 4th semester)... and they have been a great resource with knowledge and skills about the clinical setting... but some have lacked the critical thinking that the regular BSN students have been "brought up with" throughout the program.. making it hard for them.

Regardless.. do what makes you happy!!!! BC health care has a huge hiring freeze going on anyways.. i believe approx 80 RNs were layed off.. the hospitals seem to like to hire LPNs because they can pay them less.. resulting in a more stressful environment for the RNs who are ultimatly responsible for these patients :)

Nope. When I work in acute care, I am teamed with an RN. We have between 7-9 patients between us. I will take 3-5 of the stable patients, the RN will take the others, more acute patients. I am responsible for my assigned patients, not the RN. If I find the patient's acuity is raising and bring an issue to the RN about it, then he/she becomes responsible. Otherwise, they are mine for the shift.

In terms of hospitals hiring more LPNs, there are protocols in place about nursing ratios (RN/LPN-patients) that cannont be changed on a whim of hiring managers. There must be a certain number of RNs on a certain ward at certain times. Only in extreme understaffing would this be comprimised. Example, an ortho ward normally has 5 floor RNs plus a charge at the desk. Unable to fill an RN sick call, even on overtime. LPN will replace and yes, that will cause more work for other RNs. However, when this does happen, we will band together with good teamwork. The other RNs will be kept busier with IVs and IV meds and such. The remaining LPNs will take over some of their other duties with their patients like meds/vitals/assessments etc.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Sorry, I didnt mean to offend anyone.. I am only going by the facility that I am currently at. It is an RN/LPN team.. there are 9 patients between the two, but our facility states that the RN is ultimatly responsible for these 9 patients regardless if there is an LPN assigned too. So this is where I am getting my info from.... it is obviously different at other facilities. But i do know that RNs are being streched out and more LPNs are being hired (and i never said that they were not nurses...).. but at my facility the responsibility FALLS on the RN not the LPN.. and this is stressful (again from the people who i work with have told me)... because it is their license on the line.

And with UBC I was including textbooks and the nursing kits etc too. And I am wondering if the UBC okanagan is different than the vancouver one. Because my sister is currently going to UBC-O and she doesnt start clinical 2 years in. (and no you are right this is not a bridge program.. its from the very beginning)

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And with UBC I was including textbooks and the nursing kits etc too. And I am wondering if the UBC okanagan is different than the vancouver one. Because my sister is currently going to UBC-O and she doesnt start clinical 2 years in. (and no you are right this is not a bridge program.. its from the very beginning)

From a quick view of their website, it looks like UBC-O admits to their nursing program in first year (i.e. directly out of high school), so it is different. It doesn't surprise me that they delay the clinical.

From my understanding (and somebody please correct me if I'm wrong), UBC-V used to accept into the nursing program directly out of high school but delayed clinical until 3rd year. (When I first attended UBC, in 2001, some of my dorm-mates were 1st year Nursing straight out of high school.) However, currently they don't admit to the program until 3rd year, meaning that you have to complete 48+ credits (or basically 2 years) in a general program (It can be anything - I'm applying with an Arts background) before you get accepted. So, once you're in, you start clinical right away... but you can't start without those 48+ credits already completed (plus the anatomy pre-reqs).

I hope I'm making sense :) Basically, if you have previous education, UBC-V is a very fast way to a BScN. If you're starting from scratch (no college credits) then it's still essentially a 4 year program.

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So I looked more into the BN program at Athabasca (bridge lpn-bn) and it is ALOT of credit hours. 90!!! after already doing a really busy lpn program, and you have to have a year of working experience as an lpn to apply. I am really re thinking this, maybe i am best off to apply to mount royal bn program and substitute teach half days if its possible (i am not sure what the schedule is like). But if its not then there goes my income for four years and there is no way i can do that either. It just seems like the credit hrs for bn from the start is about half as it would be to become an lpn and work on athabasca bn program. Does anyone know of any other crrespondence bridge programs? I live in Calgary, nad do not believe there are any in town here. My husband has a really good job here and we will not be leaving the city. I really do want to do this,

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Did you check out UofC? I'm pretty sure they have a 2 year RN program if you have a bachelor's degree. Thats a pretty good way to go if the LPN program takes 1.5 - 2 years.

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Hi SaraUFVsn,

please check the UBC nursing school website to correct your information. I am only in my 6th week of school and next week, we are going to be in clinical 3 days a week

We have the same amount of clinical hours as BCIT. However, our progrm is only 20 months long because:

the course load/classes/clinical are a minimum of 9-5, 5 days a week.

Students are expected to have done the work/readings before going to the lectures.

Students who have been accepted to the program have previous degrees and even work experience - some of my colleagues are paramedics, researchers to name a few.

In addition to the practical side of nursing, we are required to take leadership skills, research skills etc to prepare us for higher level nursing.

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