Clinicals

• Clinical gets better when you get into the hospital setting

• Felt out of place in first year clinical but the skills you learn are super important

• If you don’t like clinicals or are struggling it doesn’t reflect on how good a nurse you will be!

Pathophysiology 

• Not really too much to prep for patho, just have a good understanding of the fundamentals. Can review Bio through the Kahoots that NSMP makes

• Ahmed (the instructor) doesn’t allow lecture recordings. Don’t get any slides before class usually. But his class can be fun. If you’re registered with CAL you might be able to record his lectures if you’re having difficulties understanding his notes or he’s going too fast. 

• Patho vs Bio: It’s a lot more complex but if you have a good foundation in Bio it builds off that. It also really ties into Clinical so it’s easier to remember the content and integrate. 1-2 hours a week reviewing/studying materials. Other person said 5 hours a week. Pretty much their point was if you leave studying for patho to the last minute you’re not gonna have a good time. One person hired a tutor for 1 hour/week

• If you have a group and a google doc and actively type notes during lecture

Specialties

• 4th year at UVIC - options are Perioperative (OR), ER and NICU

• ER 4th year specialty program. Essay, references, grades. Extra training needed. Need a B+ average to apply. Doing extracurriculars can help with resume and application. 

• ER - https://www.uvic.ca/hsd/nursing/assets/docs/undergraduate/transfer/current/ed_app.pdf  

• OR - https://www.uvic.ca/hsd/nursing/assets/docs/undergraduate/transfer/current/or-info.pdf 

• NICU - https://www.uvic.ca/hsd/nursing/assets/docs/undergraduate/transfer/current/nicu.pdf

Placements for Second Year

• 280 RJH Resp/281 neuro VGH

• 280 4S VGH Gen Med/281 Ortho Rehab RJH

• 280 VGH 4B Gen Med/281 VGH 5A Ortho and Trauma

• 280 8S Oncology RJH/281 7N Complex Surgery RJH

• 280 VGH 4AB Acute Gen Med/281 8S Palliative/Oncology RJH

• 280 SanPen/281 8S

• 280 RJH 4S Renal and GenMed/281 RJH 8S Oncology

• 280 SanPen Surgical/281 RJH 6S Acute Surgery Ortho

• 280 VGH 4AB/281 VGH 7AB Surgical Gyno/380 RJH Cardiology

Attrition

• One section - 5 people left (4/5 left on their own choices)

• Another section - lost 6 (3 to not passing, 2 dropped out of the program because they felt it wasn’t for them)

• One student said she is currently taking the program part-time, you can do that depending on your circumstances 

Study Tips

• One student said that she made an excel spreadsheet and put all the readings in and their links so she can access them later since you lose access to the course once it’s done

• Someone said don’t bother doing the readings for 111, but someone else said 111 material comes back to Uvic  341

• Learn to skim

• Readings for theory courses: It depends on the course. 233 is a course where there’s a lot of readings. You can lightly skim certain things but you need to do them. And in second year you’ll get more out of the readings. 

• “You shouldn’t do more than twice the time of the lecture” for readings/homework (ie if you class is 3 hours a 

• Assignments will end up taking more time than you think, so don’t leave it to the end. 

• Organization tip: Block times off on your calendar and treat it like class time so you’re dedicated to using that time for studying. 

• NSMP will also continue their study groups and the focus will most likely be on patho. If classes are in person they might do group study in person. 

Best Things about Second Year

• They said workload is heavier but you kind of fit everything together from the different courses

• Best things about second year: Clinicals. You gain confidence in your skills, and there are so many different clinical opportunities. 

• You feel more like a nursing student in second year, you get to do more traditional nursing skills compared to first year

Working as an HCA

• Can do after completing CPE 1

• One student did their practicum (190) at RJH and when she was done she emailed the manager to ask if there was any casual work and got hired that way. So try to build connections during CPE if you want to work there as a HCA

• It can be hard to be hired by VIHA if you don’t already know someone there, but once you’re in it’s easy to move around to different units or hospitals

• You can also work in private care

ESN

• Usually 6 positions within VIHA.

• Very competitive to get a position

CPE/Practicums

• How much say for where you’re placed - have to request a specialty (second year), otherwise you don’t have a say. 

• Jobs and transport aren’t special circumstances to getting placed in a specific hospital or area you want

• First opportunity for Mental Health is in  281 or 290, but at discretion of MH units themselves. You might get placed in mental health even if you don’t apply for it

• The other two specialties are maternity and peds and usually a lot of people want those

• CPE instructors change for each CPE

• Even if you don’t love your CPE instructor, try to take a step back and think about what nursing quality you want to bring into your practice and career. And there will always be coworkers or managers or instructors you might not get along with, but you need to learn to work with everyone.

• 280 is 2 days a week for 6 hours each (12h total)

Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing FAQs

Differences between RPN and RN

-RPN has a larger focus on therapeutic approaches and facilitating group therapy and therapy sessions. There's some differences in scope of practice r/t physical skills RPNs can perform.

Where can I volunteer to get Experience?

-So many places in Victoria to volunteer! Really depends on your lived experiences and interests. Look into community services that interest you such as outreach, umbrella, schizophrenia society, our place, Cool Aid Society.

What are the shift hours?

-Depends on what you're looking for! Mix of 8-12 hours, days and nights

Do you know if there may be community shadow shifts?

-Yes, you can self arrange with a community organization but it does not count for hours for anything and you cant go as a "Camosun student" so no Camosun name tags, scrubs ect. 

If you work casual on a mental health unit can you work on another floor as well?

-Absolutely 

Are there courses out of the BSN program for mental health nursing?

-Can do a CNA certification (after graduation) but there isn't specialty training like there is through ER, NICU ect. 

Do you interact differently in the community since its also your workplace?

-YES! you run into patients out in the community a lot. Need to learn to separate nurse from you as just a community member

Do you find this job impacts your relationships outside of work? Like assessing your friends/family or having family/friends confide in you a lot?

-Yes! both us assessing people and people asking for advice/confiding 

Skills required: 

-Foundational knowledge in physical management of illness

-Knowledge in neurology treatment 

-Inquisitive nature

-Compassionate being, kindness

-Radical acceptance

-Adaptability 

-De-escalation techniques, communication skills

-Resilience 

Day in the life:

-Go in and receive your patients. divided differently, they try and match the nurse to the patient for a therapeutic relationship 

-Other than that, there's no way to summarize a day in mental health, as its ever changing. 

• Tuck, E. & Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society 1(1) 1-40. From https://clas.osu.edu/sites/clas.osu.edu/files/Tuck%20and%20Yang%202012%20Decolonization%20is%20not%20a%20metaphor.pdf 

• Waite, R., & Nardi, D. (2019). Nursing colonialism in America: Implications for nursing leadership. Journal of Professional Nursing, 35(1), 18–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2017.12.013  from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=fph&AN=118436022&login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site 

• Bourque Bearskin, L. (2016). Through the lens of truth and reconciliation: Next steps. Canadian Nurse. Retrieved from https://canadian-nurse.com/en/articles/issues/2016/march-2016/through-the-lens-of-truth-and-reconciliation-next-steps  

• -Trans Care BC: "Trans Care BC supports the delivery of equitable and accessible care, surgical planning, and peer and community support for trans people across the province."

•  Rainbow Health Ontario: "RHO offers training for healthcare providers across the province to feel more clinically and culturally competent in caring for their LGBT2SQ service users"

• -Gay and Lesbian Medical Association: "GLMA is a national organization committed to ensuring health equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and all sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals, and equality for LGBTQ/SGM health professionals in their work and learning environments"

• Re: searching for LGBTQ Health: "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, Two-Spirit, and queer (LGBTQ2S+) and ally researchers who focus on understanding how LGBTQ2S+ people experience physical and emotional (mental) health, and how they access health services"

 Google slide presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/115tI_p_0HFzRzQXChO2StEZffcxkWTGR4inTNTGHevU/edit?usp=sharing