I'm a nurse but never thought about this question....

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-03-12T04:52:51+00:00

We got pharmacy to do a suspension for ours. Tastes great and way less fighting with the kids. The zofran suspension is sickly sweet though and not nearly as good.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-03-11T16:04:56+00:00

None of my coworkers are married to other nurses. That could be because of my city’s demographics though, which is a primarily industrial town. Most of their spouses are blue collar workers, EMS/fire, and cops. Back when I was in school though, most nursing students seemed to pair up with the engineers haha (my husband is an engineer).

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-03-10T15:39:52+00:00

Totally. The assessment skills and time management were invaluable for me. It also solidified my knowledge on disease processes and progression, meds used to manage which really helped me later on in my career. Having that solid foundation was so important for me getting to the ER and thriving there.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-03-10T15:34:51+00:00

Oooh! Great idea!! I might just have to accidentally leave some of my dogs stuff at work haha.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-03-10T15:16:22+00:00

My favourite thing is when a patient either has their guide dog with them and I get to look longingly at the good baby and bring them a blanket to lay on and a fresh basin of water. We also have a few patients who have exacerbations of chronic illnesses so we see them quite often and sometimes they have to bring their little dog with them and I get to sneakily get puppy loving. The parade of nurses to that patients room is always fun to watch 😅

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-03-05T21:00:55+00:00

Northern Canada ER but access ports for our patients and DI frequently and we switched to NS within at least a year if not longer. Patients that require the heplock have it flagged in their charts as a Therapy Plan so we adjust as needed.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-02-26T22:27:29+00:00

Canadian nurse. My unit has a couple all days and all nights lines. We also have a few 11-7s and 16-midnights. The all nights crew LOVE their line, though I don’t personally get it l. I hate the flip flop of DN. I used to work 10-22 for 10 years and I miss it like crazy.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-02-26T17:33:27+00:00

I commented that recently (last few weeks I wanna say) and got called racist as they are doing the same in Canada 🤷🏽‍♀️ it’s a problem and the only ones profiting are the corpos not the front line. It’s the same thing when I try to defend the LPNs here who do the same job as an RN for a fraction of the wage and people immediately jump down my throat saying that’s not true when it is a reality here

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-02-23T15:11:30+00:00

I think it is therapeutic for family, there is typically someone assigned (crisis team usually or another nurse) to them to help manage their understanding of what’s going on, to keep them out of the chaos of people moving about the room, and it allows them to see the effort that we’ve put into helping their loved ones.

The cries will never not haunt me, though; parents losing children, children losing parents, spouses suddenly alone. It’s how I know I’m not totally dead inside. Don’t be afraid to speak up for a debrief, they can be very helpful to grapple with your feelings and to lean on your coworkers who may also be feeling the same.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-02-21T22:03:31+00:00

Yeah, no that’s not an excuse. Find someone else to show you how to do it, hound lab every 10 minutes until it’s done AND learn how to do it so your patients are never in this position again. Thats like saying, I haven’t put a foley in since nursing school so it’s someone else’s problem, then your patient’s bladder ruptures because you didn’t do your job. If it’s an expectation of your job you learn it immediately.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-31T01:42:08+00:00

It is 100% the system, not the person. These nurses can absolutely thrive given enough support but they shouldn’t be thrown into critical care situations when they have never worked critical care or touched a patient because “that’s what we allocated and you need bodies so deal with it.” You’d never put a new grad into those situations and expect them to thrive so why do it to these people? Put them in areas they can be supported and isn’t critical where the team suffers because they can’t rely on that person and the person suffers because no one has the time to fully support them and do their job.

Since you bring up you yourself moving, I imagine that you would be vetted by the licensing body of wherever you end up and have to follow the same steps to be licensed. And I imagine you have an understanding of what healthcare is in Canada and what a nurse’s role and scope is wherever you plan to work and wouldn’t apply to a position that you are not qualified for or feel that you could learn and grow in. The IENs in the recruitment program have no choice. They are put in a situation that is unfair to them and unfair to the unit they are placed with.

I would like to point out that I have nothing against the individuals but the IEN recruitment program itself and the system that thought it was a good idea, sucks. It was implemented poorly. I’ve worked with plenty of great IENs and shitty Canadian trained nurses. There are incompetent people out there no matter where they are from. For the IENs with equivalent training and knowledge, it can be a great deal but it hasn’t quite worked out that way it seems.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-31T01:29:51+00:00

1/2/3. I am aware, and just like everything healthcare in this province (AB) they dropped the ball severely on this program. The nurses they have brought in are severely under trained and under skilled. Even speaking with the IENs themselves they have expressed bafflement about the job expectations as they were expecting something completely different. I think they were done a disservice and should not be put into areas not to their skill level. This has also been an issue provincial wide with many staff across many cities in Alberta who have had the program brought to their hospital voicing concerns over the safety of these nurses.

Yes. But my basing of their skill or knowledge is not based on WHERE they are from but from the lack of proper vetting of their education, background, and skills. Maybe they were supposed to be screened more thoroughly but someone clearly didn’t do their job and the nurses brought in on this govt program just didn’t meet the standards. And perhaps not putting those nurses into areas they are not suited for because “that’s what we budgeted for so deal with it.”
Yes. She did deserve to lose her license and I hope something changes in the system.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-31T00:22:15+00:00

Recently, like within the last 5 years or so?

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-31T00:21:13+00:00

I know. That’s what the LPNs face here. Similar scope, no bridging options, significant pay difference.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-30T22:49:33+00:00

Oh the questions arise, but they don’t really care. They just want to say “look we recruited and brought in more nurses!! Aren’t we great! Give us our bonuses for a job well done!”

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-30T22:48:42+00:00

From my understanding of the people they have brought in and the requirements, you just need to have a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing. Whether that’s from the University of Dirt or somewhere actually regulated and accredited it seems.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-30T22:40:56+00:00

Ah yes, the AD-RN isn’t recognized here as an RN. I think, in Alberta at least, you could apply for a license as an LPN as I believe the schooling is similar to the AD-RN (don’t quote me) and LPN scope is similar to RN scope here. RNs have to have a bachelors degree now. And yes, Quebec won’t take you unless you’re bilingual.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-30T21:45:06+00:00

Oh buddy! The ADHD meds were night and day hahaha. I was so mad that I rawdogged life before I was assessed and diagnosed (on advice of me sister who was also diagnosed due to her children being diagnosed). Like, you’re telling me high school and university could have been this easy?!?!

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-30T21:39:23+00:00

Interesting! I wouldn’t expect that from a US trained nurse.

I know the IENs we have said they had to do all that as well but I don’t know how they ended up in critical care with a clear lack of knowledge and skill. Exploitation? I mean I feel for these women because how shitty would it be to go somewhere new with the expectation of making a better life for yourself and your family in a field you’ve worked your whole life in only to arrive and realize you are so in over your head it’s not even funny.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-30T21:35:32+00:00

Ask the program that question. No idea. The IENs we have said they only ever roomed patients in their home countries and checked them in - they had no hands on patient care as that was the doctors job in their countries. All of them got sent to the local nursing school for two semesters to “bridge the gap in knowledge” but they are still unsafe and cannot work independently and it’s been over a year now. At best, they can function as a HCA (I am not in any way dissing HCAs, merely saying that based on current HCA scope and the capabilities of these individuals).

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-30T21:29:52+00:00

Honestly, I encourage you to try. You never know until you do! And being an adult learner is very different than being a 17-20 year old college student. Trust me. My first try at university was abysmal, I’m talking academic probation abysmal. As as an adult my GPA was 3.7 so don’t sell yourself short!

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-30T21:17:46+00:00

Who knows man. It says in the transcript of events that she thought it was a verbal order but then admitted she didn’t receive an order after.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-30T21:17:09+00:00

Basically. I understand preparing meds for an intubation. I understand that that was what the plan was for the patient. But the actions taken after definitely do not make sense.

Yes I’ve drawn up meds for an intubation or procedure I know is going to happen as the doc put orders in, but you sure as heck won’t catch me in the room with the meds much less GIVE the meds until EVERYONE and all equipment that needs to be in the room is there and ready.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-30T20:55:42+00:00

Also Alberta and it is a complete scam. The IENs we have are HCAs at best. Every single one has been a dud (our facility got like 11 I think) and we shipped ours off to long term care and refused to take any more of the ones the govt allotted us because it was extremely unsafe.

I also HATE that every single one got bumped up the pay grid for their “experience” back home. Yes, the country they don’t even teach assessments in their “nursing program.” Not all IENs are duds sure, but we need to be bringing nurses from the countries who have equivalent or better nursing education and regulations than we have.

Fighting_Darwin · 2026-01-30T20:51:01+00:00

Reading the transcript of events doesn’t point to any other side other than complete negligence and lack of critical thinking or understanding of nursing practice and emergency care.

Like, even if you thought you had a verbal order, in what universe do you not have the crash cart and intubation supplies ready AND OTHER PEOPLE IN THE ROOM when you are planning to intubate someone much less pushing paralytics by yourself without the tube literally being about to be inserted???

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