Today begins a strike by Nova Scotia long term care workers which includes house keeping, care workers, Licensed Practical Nurse, and physiotherapists. The reason? The need for a "living wage" We all deserve to make enough money at our jobs to be able to afford a roof over our heads and food to put on the table. Every person, no matter what their occupation deserves this. These workers, according to local media, have been without a contract since sometime in 2023. That's 3 years! And unacceptable Once again, because governments do not understand the importance of health care workers, the health care "consumer" will loose out, will suffer. Do governments truly understand this? What affects will this have on Registered Nurses in the area? No, this is not strictly an RN focused problem, but WE can help. Please share your insights, your thoughts, and possible actions we could take to help. I don't know it all, I only know my opinion and my circumstance. We need to share our ideas

Here are a couple of novel ideas when it comes to improving health care and nursing numbers What if ... ❤️ - mandatory volunteer work for grade 10, 11, and 12 students (needed for graduation) in their choice of a hospital or long term care setting - Federal/ provincial governments paying for the education of people interested in training as nurses (in return for a specific amount of work as a "pay back") To me this makes much more sense for "increased spending on healthcare" that provincial and federal governments are stating in their new budgets

I ended up calling 911 for myself a few months ago. Living alone and finding myself with a sudden onset of intensely painful lower back. The pain, the uncertain knowledge of the cause, and experiencing this alone was enough for me to want to be seen by a doctor. The paramedics who attending the call were calm, gentle and reassuring, and once we arrived in the emergency department they stayed with me until I was given a designated stretcher ... in the hallway This is current protocol here in Nova Scotia due to patient numbers and available nurse numbers. Unfortunately this is the ripple effect of low nursing staff numbers. When paramedics must stay to attend the patients in the emergency room it leaves others who need an ambulance waiting much longer for help. Sometimes, as you may read in your own local media, help arrives too late. Nursing staffing numbers do affect what goes on elsewhere in our health care systems. Governments respond by trying to hire more EMTs, Medics, etc but would this measure even be necessary if there were enough nurses available? I wonder I was treated well and I guess timely enough, sent home with medications once I passed my first kidney stone (that was a surprise; no family history of that for me) What is your experience with nursing workloads in emergency departments where you live/work?

As I am transcribing the first edition of my book here to the classroom I am amazed at how little I wrote about the profession has changed over the last 16 years. Though it's been at least 13 years since I last did hands on nursing care what I am hearing now, today, is the same crap from governments and the same stressful stories from front line nurses. Am I wrong? Am I missing something? I would be eternally grateful, as I am sure other nurses would, to hear some positive stories

Here is part of the introduction I wrote in the first edition of my book, "Nursing: A Wicked Profession" I will be making this book available here for purchase in the classroom for just $15. Currently you can still find the book on Amazon. Once I finish transcribing the book to our community however, it will no longer be available on there. "This book is my contribution toward immediate action. The opinions in this book are mine, professionally and personally, supported by facts where I felt it was needed and warranted. Canada's Nurse Theme week for 2007 was "Think you know nursing? Take a closer look". The theme for 2009 was "Nursing: You can't live without it". Personally I saw very little in the media across Canada reflective of their understanding of these statements. Nor did I hear much, if anything, from people around me. Either people are not getting the message, they are just not listening, or nurses are not speaking up loudly enough, if at all. Nursing: A Wicked Profession gives you, the reader, a closer and more personal look at what these statements truly mean. Nursing is a powerful yet highly misunderstood, and trod upon, health care profession. My intent with this book is to give the reader an honest and realistic look at the human side of the profession, not the mystical "angel of mercy" views many still harbor. You will see past the mechanics of nursing, the giving of medications, dressing of wounds, immunizing of children and the holding of a dying patients' hand. You will gain a clearer understanding of who nurses really are, what they do, and how they feel. I want to show you how nurses view themselves and how the general public, the media and governments, local or federal, view the profession. You'll get a glimpse at the wickedness some in the profession have succumbed to, taking advantage of a position of trust to do harm to others. The book also takes an in-depth look at the wickedly difficult task of caring for and increasingly aging, educated and angry population. Lastly I open a door to a world that very few know about; a look at how wickedly powerful the nursing profession has been and continues to be. From inventors, to influencing of government policy, there are things about nurses and nursing even I did not know before writing this book."