I am moving this question from "careers" to "specialty nursing".
I am finishing up nursing school here and am still trying to decide which area of nursing I would like to pursue. I am interested in learning more about nursing careers other than bedside nursing. Can anyone tell me what an RN primarily does at an alcohol/drug rehab facility? I imagine RN's would do the initial assessment upon the patients arrival as well as administer daily medications. In addition, I figure they would tend to injuries and illness. What else would they do? Is it super stressfull or more relaxed than say med-surge nursing? Does this type of nursing career pay the bills? Is it competitive with hospital pay? Are there advantages to this type of nursing over bedside nursing? There are several really nice, well known, large facilities in Southern California. For example, there is a nice one in Malibu as well as the Betty Ford Center in Palm Springs. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
It is interesting to learn how nursing differs through out countries. I wonder if the U.S. has anything like this. I heard in canada you can buy some meds over the counter that here are by prescription only (ex. certain benzos). Is that true? Also does Canada have as bad of a problem with addictions as the U.S.? Where I work at business is booming, unfortunately.
there is no denying that our healthcare systems are different, and likely many of the laws. i can't speak to all the different drug laws, but benzo's are a targeted substance in canada. that means a prescription should be needed. this is a link to a more info on it if you need something specific.
drug addiction is likely much the same here with the acceptation that we have less people overall. as i’m sure you are aware addiction tends to follow the social determinants of health. populations that are poorer, less educated, oppressed, or have less access to resources tend to have higher rates of mental health and addiction issues. in canada our first nations populations is struggling severely, and with good reason. the amount of cultural genocide that has occurred here is one of our greatest disgraces, but that is another conversation altogether.
Specializes in psych, addictions, hospice, education.
Depends on where you work and your personal philosophy. As a CD nurse I led groups and had lots of patient interaction. Not all the RNs I worked with did that though. They were willing, sometimes, to do the med-passes so I could run groups.
KADRN
24 Posts
It is interesting to learn how nursing differs through out countries. I wonder if the U.S. has anything like this. I heard in canada you can buy some meds over the counter that here are by prescription only (ex. certain benzos). Is that true? Also does Canada have as bad of a problem with addictions as the U.S.? Where I work at business is booming, unfortunately.
Thanks