Ask me anything about nursing

[mursing]

I am a RN with two years of experience.

 

I'm leaving the profession as I am finally gonna become a doctor!

 

Education:

4 years bachelor's degree in nursing program

 

Worked in:

Emergency Room

Cardiology

Pediatric

 

Ask me anything related to nursing/nursing program!

[kpm]

Hello,

 

Did you learn phlebotomy in your nursing program?

 

There is some debate in our FB group for UofT nursing starting this fall. Some students are saying that we will not be learning how to take blood. I find this alarming, since nurses take blood all the time!

 

Thanks!

[mursing]

I haven't learned phlebotomy in my nursing program.

 

Hospital usually gives you training and certification for phlebotomy/taking blood if you are interested.

 

Let's say that my patients need to have blood work done. We have the option of paging the phlebotomy workers to come and take the blood / or have it done ourselves if we are trained to do so.

[hexonu]

How much do you make a year?

 

Was it hard for you to get a competitive GPA in nursing? What's your GPA

 

Why not just do 2 year NP program?

 

 

 

 

I'm starting an NP program fairly soon, just curious.

[aaronjw]

How much do you make a year?

 

Was it hard for you to get a competitive GPA in nursing? What's your GPA

 

Why not just do 2 year NP program?

 

 

 

 

I'm starting an NP program fairly soon, just curious.

 

why not just apply to medicine?

[mursing]

How much do you make a year?

 

Was it hard for you to get a competitive GPA in nursing? What's your GPA

 

Why not just do 2 year NP program?

 

I'm starting an NP program fairly soon, just curious.

 

I'm in Ontario and have worked in big hospitals. I took home ( after tax ) $1,600-1,900 biweekly.

 

Few considerations for biweekly pay.

1) Depends on whether I worked holidays, weekends, nights, or overtime.

2) Take out $$$ for pension, health benefits, life insurance, and disability insurance, union fee, TAX

 

Btw, I rarely worked any overtime.

 

I received a fairly high GPA - ~3.9, but it was hard. I studied everyday.

 

Sometimes, it's not easy to get high marks for certain nursing courses due to subjectivity in marking (a lot of essays!!!)

 

I'll answer the question about why I haven't decided to go into NP route soon. I am out at the moment and my iPhone is so slow.

[mursing]

 

Why not just do 2 year NP program?

 

I'm starting an NP program fairly soon, just curious.

 

1) Level of autonomy

 

When I was working in cardiology unit, the adult NP only prepared discharge notes. The physicians didn't let her do anything else. Personally, I felt that she wasn't even needed on the unit. She could disappear the next day and nobody would notice

 

Other adult/pediatric NPs in different units could only do simple things like re-order antibiotics, bowel medications, etc. I'm sure this isn't true in all cases.

 

Primary Health Care NPs that I have seen working in community health centres / family health teams only saw stable patients (They saw only 5-6 patients a day).

 

2) Education

 

1st year: You do general nursing masters course

2nd year: NP courses

 

You really only get 1 year of NP education. Clinical portion is way too short.

 

I would not feel comfortable practicing medicine with such education.

 

3) Job Prospect

 

Have you seen the job listings? You may find some casual/part time/temp positions, but mostly in rural areas. There just isn't that many positions opening up for the number of NPs being pumped out every year.

 

I have some NP colleagues who still work as RNs.

 

4) Salary

 

Anywhere from $80K - low $100Ks. Great pay for sure, but I wouldn't be satisfied with it.

 

5) Highest level of nursing

 

My complaint is... why is highest level of nursing = practicing medicine?

 

These are my reasons for not going into the NP program.

[hexonu]

Really only 1600-1900 biweekly? Seems extremely low I'm in AB and pull 2500 biweekly without overtime and this is before tax. I guess the cost of living must be low in ON.

[mursing]

Really only 1600-1900 biweekly? Seems extremely low I'm in AB and pull 2500 biweekly without overtime and this is before tax. I guess the cost of living must be low in ON.

 

Yes, this is the reality of the pay for nursing in Ontario for the first few years. Btw, this is after tax.

 

You don't make a fortune in this profession.

[hexonu]

Sorry was on my phone, that actually was suppose to say after tax. Funny thing is I'm not even on the top of the pay scale.

 

Autonomy wise I think NPs have enough relative to their experience and education. What do you mean the physicians did'nt let her do anything? As an NP she's practicing under her own license and is not accountable to any physician. Perhaps this is issue with facility policy rather than autonomy? I know a few urgent care NPs who run the entire department WITHOUT a consulting physician. Again, the NP role is really aimed at experienced nurses, of course a year in actually medicine type classes won't be enough if you don't have sufficient experience to draw upon from. So to be a successful NP you should have a plethora of experience or be exceptionally bright.

 

As far as pay goes, 80k is starting for an RN in my province so I can assume (coupled with what I've heard) that pay for an NP is around the 100k+ mark. Unfortunately AHS treats NPs on a management grid and doesn't post salaries.

 

Again, job-wise you're probably looking in province and at the moment Ontario is saturated that's not to say the rest of the country is in the same situation. I know sask is heavily recruiting NPs for a few new hospitals they plan to build within the next few years. Also, have you seen the Health Canada mandate? better access to primary care, which equates to more funding for NP positions.

 

I'm not trying to pump up the NP route, but I think the issues you have with it can be easily overcome.

 

Personally, I've thought of medicine numerous times, and although I have the grades it just wouldn't be feasible at this point in my life (going through another 4 years + residency).

[mursing]

Sorry was on my phone, that actually was suppose to say after tax. Funny thing is I'm not even on the top of the pay scale.

 

Autonomy wise I think NPs have enough relative to their experience and education. What do you mean the physicians did'nt let her do anything? As an NP she's practicing under her own license and is not accountable to any physician. Perhaps this is issue with facility policy rather than autonomy? I know a few urgent care NPs who run the entire department WITHOUT a consulting physician. Again, the NP role is really aimed at experienced nurses, of course a year in actually medicine type classes won't be enough if you don't have sufficient experience to draw upon from. So to be a successful NP you should have a plethora of experience or be exceptionally bright.

 

As far as pay goes, 80k is starting for an RN in my province so I can assume (coupled with what I've heard) that pay for an NP is around the 100k+ mark. Unfortunately AHS treats NPs on a management grid and doesn't post salaries.

 

Again, job-wise you're probably looking in province and at the moment Ontario is saturated that's not to say the rest of the country is in the same situation. I know sask is heavily recruiting NPs for a few new hospitals they plan to build within the next few years. Also, have you seen the Health Canada mandate? better access to primary care, which equates to more funding for NP positions.

 

I'm not trying to pump up the NP route, but I think the issues you have with it can be easily overcome.

 

Personally, I've thought of medicine numerous times, and although I have the grades it just wouldn't be feasible at this point in my life (going through another 4 years + residency).

 

I've only been exposed to handful of NPs practicing in the hospital/community setting. I'm sure that there are NPs out there with much more autonomy and contributing a lot to our health care system.

 

$2,500 after tax is awesome. $80K is the starting salary for RN in Alberta?

Holy Moly

 

What's the starting hourly wage for RNs over there?

 

Our starting here in Ontario is roughly $30/hour.

[hexonu]

This chart lists the pay differences in every province.

 

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nursesunions.ca%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fcontract_comparison_english.pdf&ei=46cCUqT2L8j3iwK-3YHwCw&usg=AFQjCNE32bmD8htU2WDFTriyoCcuCQgIHQ&sig2=zjRxW-pmkm-gx5MZl5c2Rw

 

Although the base for a new grad is 34.50$ there are a bunch of differentials that boost this. For example having a degree nets you $1 extra. Nights is $6 extra. Being charge for your shift $2 extra. Working evenings is $2.75 extra. Overtime is sometimes 2.5x base. In lieu of benefits is 10% of base. So with a couple of year experience you can easily max out at 55$ an hour.

[mursing]

I don't know about the cost of living in Alberta, but that's an amazing wage for nurses over there.

 

I just came home after a tiring night. Two total care patients with diarrhea issue. I really wish we have nursing assistants in the hospitals. Very few hospitals do, and majority don't.

 

I just can't stand the smell of poo. I thought I would get used to it by now, but I still gag when I smell it.

[medisforme]

I just can't stand the smell of poo. I thought I would get used to it by now, but I still gag when I smell it.

 

This is what made me switch to psych after 2 years in surgery. No more code browns.

[hexonu]

I don't know about the cost of living in Alberta, but that's an amazing wage for nurses over there.

 

I just came home after a tiring night. Two total care patients with diarrhea issue. I really wish we have nursing assistants in the hospitals. Very few hospitals do, and majority don't.

 

I just can't stand the smell of poo. I thought I would get used to it by now, but I still gag when I smell it.

 

switch to an area that requires no poo cleaning for example psych, public health, corrections, case managment, flight nursing, clinic work

[mursing]

switch to an area that requires no poo cleaning for example psych, public health, corrections, case managment, flight nursing, clinic work

 

No need. For me, I'm pretty much done working as a RN.

 

I don't know about psych, but public health, corrections, case management, flight nursing, and clinic work may require years of experience to get hired.

[hexonu]

No need. For me, I'm pretty much done working as a RN.

 

I don't know about psych, but public health, corrections, case management, flight nursing, and clinic work may require years of experience to get hired.

 

Psych here is hiring like crazy so you'll probably need no experience to start they hire new grads all the time. With public health I have a friend who works at the Sheldon Chumir health center in Calgary as a Public Health nurse in the STI unit and she loves it - Yes she got the job right out of school. With corrections I think you need 2 years of acute care experience to apply but the work is mostly mental health assessments and med passes. The rest I don't know much about but I think you should look into those options before you give up on nursing. Unlike medicine, within nursing you're free to jump from one specialty to another fairly easily. I forgot what type of experience you have but anything ER, ICU is golden.

[mursing]

Psych here is hiring like crazy so you'll probably need no experience to start they hire new grads all the time. With public health I have a friend who works at the Sheldon Chumir health center in Calgary as a Public Health nurse in the STI unit and she loves it - Yes she got the job right out of school. With corrections I think you need 2 years of acute care experience to apply but the work is mostly mental health assessments and med passes. The rest I don't know much about but I think you should look into those options before you give up on nursing. Unlike medicine, within nursing you're free to jump from one specialty to another fairly easily. I forgot what type of experience you have but anything ER, ICU is golden.

 

For me, I prefer the diagnosing and treating in medicine.

 

Aren't you going into NP program? You will pretty much be practicing medicine heh.

[hexonu]

For me, I prefer the diagnosing and treating in medicine.

 

Aren't you going into NP program? You will pretty much be practicing medicine heh.

 

Yes, but the end of it I'll still be a nurse, just advance practice and with a wider scope. If that's what you're looking for, then yes go the medicine route. I wish you luck.

[mursing]

I wish you luck too Hexonu!

 

Anybody else have any question pertaining to nursing?

[Guest Raj123]

Anybody else have any question pertaining to nursing?

 

By any chance, do you know how the market is for nurse practitioners? Do you know the main differences between primary care and adult care practitioners?

 

I will be applying to the nursing program next year, and have my heart set on becomming a nurse practitioner.

 

 

Any help will be appreciated!

[mursing]

By any chance, do you know how the market is for nurse practitioners? Do you know the main differences between primary care and adult care practitioners?

 

I will be applying to the nursing program next year, and have my heart set on becomming a nurse practitioner.

 

 

Any help will be appreciated!

 

I don't know much about the nurse practitioner program. But if you do have any questions relating to RN nursing, I will be more than happy to answer.

 

I did hear that the job market was pretty bad for nurse practitioners from my friends in the program.

 

I had a nurse practitioner working in the unit as a RN because he couldn't find a NP job.

[dbz]

Hi Mursing,

 

Just some questions for you

 

1) Are male nurse really in high demand? Are there advantages in terms of higher salary or ease of finding a job?

 

2)Is there a real difference between becoming an RN via university versus college? The general thinking is college is more practical, and university has higher success rate in passing the RN. People do say university RN is better.

 

3) What uni/college did you go to for your RN? Can you provide any general info of the different nursing programs in Ontario.

 

4) Is the nursing field in Ontario becoming saturated? People say more RPN are being hired to save on costs.

 

5) Is the dirty side of nursing (poop, cleaning patients) being overblown? I heard you may have to do it your first couple of years working. Is this decreasing with more RPN and personal support workers being hired?

 

 

I'm a male, with a degree in kinesiology. I am planning on applying to physio and nursing for next year. My gpa is around 3.55, and my cgpa is over 3.5.

[dbz]

So in my situation, i have to take the pre req courses for the university nursing accelerated nursing program.

 

For the college route, its hard for me since they look at your high school grades, and i did bad in grade 12 chem.

[hexonu]

Hi Mursing,

 

Just some questions for you

 

1) Are male nurse really in high demand? Are there advantages in terms of higher salary or ease of finding a job?

 

2)Is there a real difference between becoming an RN via university versus college? The general thinking is college is more practical, and university has higher success rate in passing the RN. People do say university RN is better.

 

3) What uni/college did you go to for your RN? Can you provide any general info of the different nursing programs in Ontario.

 

4) Is the nursing field in Ontario becoming saturated? People say more RPN are being hired to save on costs.

 

5) Is the dirty side of nursing (poop, cleaning patients) being overblown? I heard you may have to do it your first couple of years working. Is this decreasing with more RPN and personal support workers being hired?

 

 

I'm a male, with a degree in kinesiology. I am planning on applying to physio and nursing for next year. My gpa is around 3.55, and my cgpa is over 3.5.

 

I know this is mursing's thread but Ill answer as well to add some perspective.

 

1) A nurse is a nurse no one really cares much if you're male or female but as a male you'll be pushed more to take leadership roles. Salary wise most provinces have unions so whatever a new grad starts with as per the collective agreement for that province is what you get, no individual bargaining.

 

2) Not sure where you are but a BN or BscN is entry to practice as an RN in Alberta. The old RNs who graduated with a diploma were grandfathered into the system, so it's not possible to become an RN through a college.

 

3) Don't know

 

4) Not sure about Ontario but in Alberta jobs are hard to come by especially for new grads. However, the nursing job market is cyclic. The government likes to cut back for 2-3 years and then when they realize they're running on a skeleton crew they hire like crazy again. Coupled with the fact that more than 1/3 of nurses are eligible to retire I see a huge number of positions opening up within the next few years.

 

5) Poop/Cleaning is something you'll have to get used to. During your first year in school you'll definitely be doing, but this is mostly to weed out people. It also depends on the speciality area you're working in, med/surg, ltc and some subacute units you'll be cleaning, but in Psych poop or cleaning is almost non existent.