Monday, May 12, 2008

Happy Nurse's Day


The week of Nurse's Week is different in the US (May 6-12) and Canada (May 12-18). However International Nurse's Day is celebrated around the world on May 12. Today's date is also the anniversary of Florence Nightengale's birthday. Florence Nightengale often considered the founder of nursing still serves as a model for nurse's today. I have been a nurse since graduation in 2000. After I graduated, I worked in palliative care nursing for 6 years and for the last 2 1/2 years I've been working on a personal care unit. In palliative care, the focus was providing comfort and end of life care to both the patient and the family. Personal care is more chronic and long-term but still we work with both the patients and the families who are often burnt out from looking after their elderly parents/loved ones at home. I really enjoy nursing as it is an ever growing and changing profession with so many different faces.
Here are just a few facts about nursing...Think you know nursing? Take a closer look:
  • Nurses are the largest group of health-care providers in Canada, representing more than one-third of the health-care workforce.
  • There are more than 270,00 registered nurses (RNs) in Canada.
  • The average age of RNs employed in nursing in Canada is 45.
  • For every RN in Canada who is 35 years of age or younger, there are 1.9 RNs who are 50 or older.
  • One out of every five (20.8 %) RNs in Canada is 55 or older - eligible to retire.
  • In 2005, approximately 87% of RNs were employed in the jurisdictions in which they graduated. Prince Edward Island, British Columbia, and Alberta attracted the greatest proportion of out-of-province graduates.
  • Only 56.3 % of Canada's RNs are employed full-time.
  • In Canada, 12.7 % of RNs report having more than one nursing employer.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like we need more young people to take up this challenging career! Thanks for sharing. You're my favourite nurse! :D