Nurses in LIMBO

This page within the Pro LPN website is designed to address the LPN's position in nursing by way of a forum where LPN's share their experiences in their positions as "Full Scope" LPN's which fall under the Nurse in LIMBO guideline questions which follow on this page (NB - if you have question that you feel should be included please submit them)

Nurses in LIMBO

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ARE YOU A NURSE IN LIMBO?

AN ALL NEW KIND - THANKS TO BCNU

WHAT IT WAS

Have you asked questions and received vague/condesending responses?

Have you gone to work unsure of what you are allowed to do?

Have you been given responsibilities in the work place only to have them stripped away one day and then reinstated the next?

Have you performed duties traditionally done by another nursing care giver without receiving the same benefits/authority/status that they receive?

Have you performed nursing duties only to have the foreboding thought of "If something goes wrong will my insurance cover it or will I receive support from my union, the College of LPN's, the LPN Assoc. of BC, management or my fellow professionals?

If you have answered "Yes" to any of the above questions then you are a:

NURSE IN LIMBO

PLUS WHAT IT HAS ALSO BECOME!

Thanks to the LRB, the BC Liberal Party, BCNU and the RN Wanna Bees we have a whole new definition of what a Nurse in Limbo is all about.

What will happen to those of us that refuse to sign a BCNU membership card
How will this effect any and all gains that we were fortunate to attain under the HEU
What items within our collective agreement which we have now will be taken away
How will this effect our seniority - especially Province wide which is impending
Will we be looking at changes in our allowed skills whch we had been able to do before that the RNs were either objecting to or not trained for (Immunizations)
Will we lose our autonomy as has the RPN's

Hello, my name is Ken Gerbrandt, I am an LPN who works in three facilities in the I.H.A. I have over 25 years experience in different facets of the medical field and in 1999 I decided to take a refresher course with OLA and get my LPN license back as I had heard of the exciting changes to the role of the LPN. Well, I have come to the conclusion that "exciting" is not really the word to use. Rather the word could be confusing, frustrating, disheartening, aggravating, etc. (I'm sure some of you can come up with some more).

When I began my Pro LPN website in 2002 my intent was to give LPN's a place where they could share their thoughts on nursing by providing educational tidbits, case studies from personal experiences and question/answer forums. I would like to continue this idea but with the more specific agenda of the LPN with a professional identity crisis.

Although I personally have many experiences I will share I am hoping that after you read mine you will also want to share yours. Please make submissions via email or fax. If you would just like to talk - call me 0900 - 2100 hrs. 7 days a week. My intent is to make all submissions anonymous of writer and please when relating experiences use fictitious names of clients, collegues and employers to ensure confidentiality.

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