One Down, Seven More To Go

It's unbelievably hard for me to believe that the first semester of nursing school is already coming to a close. I walked into my first class 3 months ago not knowing what to expect and am now walking out of my last class of the semester feeling confident in what I know and feeling ready to take on the world. Obviously by the world I mean the 'real world' where I will walk into an actual hospital and practice my skills on actual patients! At this point, my knowledge and skills learned have only skimmed the surface of what is to come in the next 7 semesters however I feel ready to get started with my clinical experience. I highly look forward to my first day in clinical and will update my blog followers on the journey in a few weeks when it actually happens. Looking forward to filling you in soon!

Canada: Shortage of Nurses Across the Nation

As a nursing student, I obviously have a bias towards this profession however, regardless of this I very frequently find myself asking how it's possible for our country to experiencing a shortage in a profession that has so many benefits? Nurses provide care for thousands of patients in their lifetime and experience the most rewarding feeling possible. The feeling of leaving work knowing that you most certainly saved someone's life or helped someone physically, emotionally or spiritually in their journey to good health. Regardless of this feeling, for some reason our country is still going through a very large shortage that seems almost impossible to get out of. Being a nursing student I have witnessed first hand that my fellow peers are dedicated and motivated individual. Hopefully if the coming generations have the same drive as we do, this country will be in good hands several years from now.

Nursing: Now A Two Way Street

Through the past several decades nursing has been a very heavily woman-populated profession however, in recent years it is becoming a trend for men to become involved. The stigma that men are doctors and women are nurses was abolished many years ago when women's suffrage was conquered. Women were now becoming a large part of the medical world as very prestigious doctors, surgeons, and health care providers but that stigma only changed in one direction. For many years, men were not involved in the nursing profession until recently when the benefits were discovered. For men leaving university and entering into this profession, they are in high demand and are often offered very high starting salaries for what they are able to provide that women might not be able to. For the large portion of the male population that are admitted into hospitals on a daily basis having a male nurse could be more comforting to them than being cared for by a woman. As well, men's physical strength could be a large help in areas such as physical therapy and transferring overweight patients that females might not be able to physically handle. As time passes these benefits will be further recognized and this profession will truly develop into a two way street.

Is technology helping or hindering when it comes to overcoming communication barriers in healthcare?

With the current advancements in technology, the health care system has benefitted immensely in several different ways. Most particularly, it has helped with breaking down communication barriers between health care providers. Advancements such as e-mail and the internet have made it easier and faster to access information and get in contact with fellow professionals. As well, developments in the workplace such as electronic health records make it more efficient to provide care to patients and make it less likely that a mistake will be made while administering this care. The help that technology has provided will continue to advance and the health care system will continue to see the benefits of these incredible improvements.

Welcome bloggers!

My name is Vicky and I am currently a first year nursing student at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. I spend the majority of my time completing work for school however I also enjoy dancing, playing volleyball and making music when I have some spare time.

Obviously as a fellow blogger you know the benefits of using a website such as blogger.com. These advantages include, but are not limited to, the ability to informally write down your thoughts and potentially cross paths with another person who is experiencing the same things as you. This website has created a new electronic-based system that can be used for networking, communication, and to share your thoughts and feelings with the rest of the world.