I come from the western part of China, where I worked in areas of acute care, including in the surgical and maternity wards.
My husband immigrated to Canada for work, which is why my family came here. Now I work at Runnymede Health and Toronto Rehab doing work that is much different than what I did in China. Generally, I work with neuro patients who have had strokes and brain injuries.
Complex continued care is slower-paced than acute care and requires more communication with patients. In Canada, the type of care is total care – you take care of feeding, dressing, showering and even emotional support, talking to the patients to find out their thoughts and concerns.
When I was very young, my mother was always sick and in and out of the hospital. The nurses were so kind and warm, so I’ve always really wanted to be a nurse.
In China I studied nursing at a private school. When I moved to Canada, I first worked in a furniture factory, which was very heavy! Then I got my certification to do personal support work from Victoria Business College, a private school, and began working in a Chinese nursing home because my English was still not good.
Then I took the academic pathways for nurses certificate at George Brown to become a registered practical nurse, and this year I became a registered nurse.
The nursing skills required in Canada are different from back in my country. We don’t do total care, and we don’t do personal care. We’d just give medication and injections. Also, how you communicate with patients is much different. In Canada, it’s much more about the patient’s emotional needs and concerns. The best nurses have a warm heart and are organized. You have to be good at solving problems. It’s a special profession.
I plan to go back to school to learn more about palliative care, because in neuro some patients require that. My best experiences on the job comes when a patient is discharged from the hospital and says thanks to all the nurses. Sometimes a patient says, “You’re the best one.”
