u/Throwawayyawaworth9

My partner is considering relocating us to Vancouver, BC. I am a registered nurse. From where I am from (Calgary, AB) it is extremely difficult to get a nursing job as an external applicant. I understand it’s the same situation in Ontario right now— new grad and even experienced nurses cannot land positions even after dozens (and in my case when I graduated) hundreds of applications.

I am wondering how hard is it to find a registered nurse position in Vancouver?

I’m willing to work pretty much anywhere except LTC. My background is in acute care, outpatient addictions/mental health, emergency psychiatry, and palliative care/hospice.

Edit: Thank you all so much for your responses!!!

Part of the reason I went into nursing is because I am (was?) a total night-owl— I used to like to stay up late and I preferred working nights when I worked in retail.

Now, only 2.5 years after graduating from nursing school, I have lost all ability to tolerate night shifts.

Last night was my first stretch of 3 night shifts—only 8-hours per shift— and by 5:00am I couldn’t think, I could barely form sentences, I couldn’t process what my coworkers were saying to me, and it felt like I was genuinely drunk. It doesn’t feel safe to practice nursing like this.

I try to do everything right… like i spread out my caffeine consumption (1 small redbull) throughout my shift, I take my Vyvanse at midnight, I eat lots of snacks, I eat a good meal before work, and I sleep at least 4 hours before my first night shift in a stretch, then 8 hours for each following shift.

Despite all that, I feel like absolute death when I work nights. I was perfectly fine with nights 2 years ago, and now it’s like I have lost all tolerance for them. I’m only 27!!!!!

Is this typical? Is there something I’m doing wrong? I’m worried I might not be eligible for 90% of nursing jobs if I can’t work nights…

That’s it. That’s the post :)

The Hyundai dealership I went to was skummy as hell (as to be expected), but I really love my new Elantra.

It feels sporty, the fuel efficiency is great, it’s much more roomy in the backseats than my old hatchback, it has considerable trunk space, the interior is quiet, the sound system is fantastic… and by god I am sure I will appreciate the heated steering wheel, heated seats, and being able to start my car from my phone once it hits -40C this winter.

I would like to know how many lumber, herbs, and food I need to level up the Warrior Statue from level 24 to level 25.

Thanks!

The water had flies in it and visible dirt.

Everything else was beautiful (the decor, the speeches, the bride’s dress), you could tell they put a ton of effort into the setup, and the food and drinks were decent… but I just can’t get over this.

I started Vyvanse four months ago. Since then I have lost 22lbs. I was a little overweight before (136lbs), and as I am 5’0” I’ve always struggled to lose weight, but I’m worried this is perhaps excessive.

Eating feels like a chore now when I used to love food. I will have half of what I’d used to eat and immediately feel full. I’ve tried increasing the calories in my meals (more healthy fats) and snacking more, but then I just feel less hungry throughout the day and end up eating less.

I tried to have a protein shake today and I just couldn’t finish it, so I am not sure how to supplement with shakes either.

(I am sort of pissed that all my expensive work pants are too big now…)

Any other tips? Would exercising/strength-training help up my appetite?

I hadn’t had an oil change in my car for about four years. Whenever my oil was low, I would just put oil into it without changing the filter or anything.

Eventually I convinced myself that because it had been so long since my last oil change, if I were to go to a mechanic, they would chastise me, judge me, shame me, etc.

Yesterday I decided it just had to be done (yay for medications + therapy!)

The mechanics said nothing about what was likely the grossest oil they’ve ever seen, they didn’t make any faces, they didn’t shame me. It went perfectly fine.

I just can’t believe I put this off for so long because I was so terrified of being judged. Ugh!

I have recently started working as a psychiatric emergency nurse. My role involves seeing psychiatric patients in the emergency department, assessing them, providing a diagnosis if necessary, then deciding whether to discharge to community resources or (after speaking to my psychiatrist) admitting to hospital.

I have a previous degree in psychology from before I did nursing, but I honestly do not remember the bulk of learnings I received on assessments.

My department has given me modules and a few papers to read on how to assess; however, I still do not feel particularly prepared for this role.

Are there any good books, textbooks, or papers ya’ll are aware of to strengthen assessment skills?

It’s my first day as a psychiatric emergency nurse. I’ve worked in inpatient acute care and outpatient addictions, but this is quite different.

Today we had a patient who was sectioned/formed and legally not allowed to exit the unit. Due to her being a high elopement risk, we locked the door to her room so she can’t leave.

We’d only go in to put her meal trays on the floor next to her bed (like she’s a dog…)

This woman definitely needs mental health help, and she is likely a risk to her own safety, so I get why she is sectioned/formed.

It just feels so wrong to lock someone in a room with no window, no TV, nothing to do but some colouring pages we found her. We don’t know when a she’ll be moved up to a unit. She’s constantly begging to leave. Like if solitary confinement is deemed a human right’s violation, this also feels so wrong to me.

It breaks my heart. I’ve had my own experiences with psychosis/delusions, so I think this might be hitting me a bit hard.

To any other psych nurses who have felt this way, how do you navigate this clash between morals and what’s right for the patient?

I was helping a patient get from his chair to bed when he pointed to the garbage all over his bed-side table and said, “throw that all away.”

I moved his garbage can next to his bed and said, “you can do that.”

He repeated, “throw the garbage away.”

I stood my ground and said, “you have two working hands— you can throw away your own garbage.“

It took a few years but I’m finally confident enough to encourage people to “maintain their independence”/not treat nurses as their personal maids 🙃

Today one of my patients had bilateral PEs, necrotizing pneumonia, urinary sepsis, DVT, and a (new on my shift) GI bleed.

Now imagine what my other 3 patients were like.

I feel pissed that some people say medsurg is “easy” or that medsurg nurses “can’t critically think.” By the end of my shifts, I am exhausted to my core from literally running around and having to make nonstop decisions about patient care.

I almost want to cry… I was away from home for four days and not only did my landlord (lives right next to me) not water my plants (despite me asking and confirming twice), the squirrels have torn up: half of my marigolds, quarter of my sweet alyssum, quarter of my carrots and beets, all of my cucumber plants, half of my pea plants, and every flower I had growing on my multiple strawberry plants.

I put chilli powder all around the base of the remaining plants as it looks like they’re just ripping things up and throwing them around.

I can’t get a motion-sensor sprinkler system as my community has a ban on them (due to over-water consumption in our city).

Does anyone have any other ideas for protecting my garden?

I’ve been on the fence for a while about tipping tattoo artists. The ones I’ve booked tattoos with either own their own private studios and/or they set their hourly prices. My thought is, “if they can control how much they charge their customers, why should I tip?”

I’ve also had people say that you should tip tattoo artists 20%. If I am dropping $800 on a tattoo, that’s an extra $160!

I am just wondering if there’s anyone here who do not tip their tattoo artists, who do tip them, or are an artist themselves.

(Note: I do typically tip. For example, recently my artist wanted to charge me $300 after sitting in his chair for 6 hours, and I tipped him an extra $200 with respect to him and his work. The only time I haven’t tipped is when I paid a different artist $150 for “an hour,” she finished the tattoo in 15 minutes, then she refused to add colour into a 0.5” x 0.5” area).

I was diagnosed with ADHD when I turned 27. Before then, I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder with psychotic distinction in my early 20’s (I have psychosis during depressive episodes).

I have been on several SSRIs, a DNRI, and now a serotonin modular and simulator (trintillex). The Trintillex has done wonders for my anxiety and depression (haven’t had an true depressive episode in a year), but I have continued to struggle with focusing, constant irritation/agitation, and general fatigue. I was napping daily after work, struggled to get work done and stay on task, and just felt anhedonia day in and day out.

I can’t believe it took me so long to start this med. It’s like i’ve been living life on hard mode until now. Life still isn’t perfect as I still have a lot of racing thoughts and my social skills aren’t excellent (I interrupt people worse on Vyvance lol) but I am overall happy.

Since starting Vyvance I feel like my life has significantly improved. I can cope better, deal with distractions with ease (necessary as a nurse), I am not nearly as irritable every day, and I can start tasks and finish them.

Although it won’t work for everyone, I just wanted to share a success story for anyone else still on the fence about starting Vyvance :)

My partner and I have been at Excellence El Carmen in Punta Cana for 2 days (of 6) so far. I have noticed that the staff except for a select few have been quite standoffish and abrasive. I am not sure if this is a cultural difference in how I would expect service staff to socialize, or if my partner and I are doing something wrong?

For example, my partner and I will approach staff at the bar or at a restaurant and say “hello” and “how are you” in Spanish with smiles. We tip $2-5 USD during our interactions with staff *after* we’ve received service. We try to be polite and say hello to everyone.

But… So far when we order drinks, we will either not get them or receive them 30-45 minutes after ordering. When handing people tips, they won’t even make eye contact or say thank you, just snatching the money from my hand. It’s odd because I have noticed bar and restaurant staff talking to other couples and laughing, seemingly having a good time. But when my partner and I approach we are met with a frown and minimal interaction.

Even calling the concierge this morning to book a reservation at a restaurant was met with a “You have to go there to book” followed by him slamming down the phone.

I will note that my partner and I have tattoos (full sleeves) and I have multiple facial piercings. Maybe we are being treated differently because of how we look, similar to if we were in Japan? We also do not speak Spanish very well and have more of a French accent. Is this why? And we have been tapping after receiving service— should we tip before?

I’m also not sure if I am expecting more than what is typical in Dominican Republic culture. In Spain, for example, it’s typical for wait-staff to be quite cold and barely speak to customers. I was just not expecting this in DI and would like to know if that’s normal.

I will acknowledge that staff likely feel some resentment towards patrons of the AI as there is an implied power differential between me and them. Is that why staff are behaving coldly towards us?

Anyways, I would appreciate ya’lls thoughts and opinions.

Thank you!