Career Options
Celebrating National Nursing WeekNursing grad ‘can’t imagine doing anything else’It’s a week created to highlight the contributions nurses make to the well-being of Canadians. For a new graduate about to embark on a career in health care, National Nursing Week reinforces the pride in her chosen profession. Linda White, Special to QMI Agency |
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Andrea Turzer
“I am so excited. I can’t imagine doing anything else,” says Andrea Turzer, 22. “It was a hard four years with lots of work but it has definitely paid off.”
Nursing provided an opportunity for the Ottawa resident to pursue a career in health sciences while also helping others.
She completed her Bachelor of Science Nursing degree last month and has landed a job at Ottawa Hospital General Campus through the Nursing Graduate Guarantee.
(An initiative of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the guarantee ensures that every new nursing graduate — RN and RPN — who wishes to work full time in Ontario will have that opportunity.)
Turzer completed numerous clinical placements as part of her studies at the University of Ottawa, including a surgical rotation in orthopedics at the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus. She also completed rotations in mental health and community health at the Royal Ottawa Hospital, maternity at Queensway Carleton and pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
“I got to hold and feed babies and saw a live birth and caesarean section. On my mental health rotation, I got to see electro-convulsive therapy,” says Turzer.
She will begin her career in surgical nursing. “The floor I will be working on is mainly urology and orthopedics. We can also work with medicine and oncology patients.”
This is an excellent time to enter nursing, reports Dr. Judith Shamian, president of the Canadian Nursing Association. “There’s a shortage of nurses across the country. According to projections, that shortage will triple and quadruple over the next 10 to 15 years if more work isn’t done” to encourage people to pursue nursing.
“It’s one of the best careers possible,” says Shamian. “Young people want to do meaningful work and this allows them to do that … It’s a career that has breadth and depth. Nurses make a difference every day.”
Ode to Florence Nightingale’s birthday
In 1971, the International Council of Nurses designated May 12 — Florence Nightingale’s birthday — International Nurses Day. In 1985, Canada recognized the second week of May as National Nurses Week. The name changed to National Nursing Week in 1993 to underscore the profession’s accomplishments as a discipline. The purpose of the week is to increase awareness among the public, policy-makers and governments of the many contributions nurses make to the well-being of Canadians.
Learn more at cna-aiic.ca.
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