I have not worked hands-on nursing care for over 15 years but I still do not agree with this practice. I know there is a "duty of care' but this is legalized abuse as far as I am concerned. Nursing unions do not agree with it but employers are allowed to continue. Governments don't seem to understand the harm this does to a nurse and apparently do not care the potential harm this poses to a patient https://fcsii.ca/wp-content/uploads//2023/03/2022_Mandatory-Overtime-Position-Statement_EN.pdf There ARE better answers, better solutions than offering more $$ to an individual nurse for the overtime. The money IS NOT worth the risk I will be devoting a whole chapter to this issue in the second.edition of "Nursing: A Wicked Profession" You must have your say as well. What are your ideas around the mandatory overtime practice?

Early in my career as an RN I had the opportunity to work in communities who did not have access to a doctor on a regular basis. At the time it was Health Canada who were supplying these communities (mostly indigenous) with specifically trained "Outpost & Community Health" nurses. That opportunity I took led me to Dalhousie University in Halifax NS where I completed the course. Much of the training was done by doctors and I learned how to do complete head to toe physical assessments (we had months of training), immunize adults and children, deliver babies, assess illness and prescribe specific antibiotics, take x-rays, and even suture minor wounds. After graduation I spent 6 years in the field and gained some real appreciation for the craft, and for the communities and the people who lived there. Today that course has been replaced with a much more intense (I am making a presumption here) and longer duration course and "Nurse Practitioners" now work in cities as well. They are not "mini" or "imitation" doctors (neither were we) but highly skilled nurses. They are well paid for the most part (I have seen salaries starting at $39 hourly) but still very much underutilized and STILL misunderstood. That fact leaves me scratching my head. I am so beyond words! I encourage you to share your experiences here in our community about your work as an NP, or that of someone you know. This is definitely information that should also be shared with the general public AND government bodies. The doctor shortage and resulting lack of access to care for the public can easily be addressed with increased use of our Nurse Practitioners

I have a quick question for anyone who would like to share. Are you considering early retirement from nursing?

The RNAO (Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario has a post on Facebook stating that they believe For-Profit Health care: X compromises quality care X costs more X erodes service in public hospitals X worsens wait times I was never one to always believe straight out what the registering bodies said. Most of the nurses behind the organization (in my opinion) have not been in the practice field for some time. Do they truly know what's going on? I would love to hear your individual opinions on this matter

When I graduated from my 2 year diploma program in 1985 as an RN our uniforms were white, and we wore a nursing cap with a black band. At that time patients in hospitals found it easy to find us, to identify the "nurse", and that seemed important, to everyone. Over the years we lost the capes, the caps, and the whites turned in to a myriad of colors, and styles At the time much of it made sense for comfort and even safety (how many times did my cap got caught in the curtains surrounding a patients bed). But I fear we lost some of our identity along the way. Am I the only one who feels this way?