Hey there,

My name is Megan, I am currently bridging into my lpn after being a care aide for seven years. I sure see the difference in the amount of responsibility and training that is required. Does anyone know any information on future wage increases. As a care aide I made just under $22 an hr, and lpns start at $24 an hr, this being through Interior health. Now with that being said, we are soon to be giving IV therapy, and we only make 2 bucks more an hr? There has to be some kind of wage increase in the works for the amount of responsibilties the nurses will be faced with. Not to mention the increased curriculum by 1 whole year!

If anyone has any real knowledge on this please share. There are talks of LPNs joining BCNU...is this the only way for us to even remotly see a wage increase in the near future? I have $20,000 in student loans just to upgrade. One would hope for some kind of pay off after going back to school!

Thanks,

Megan

There is no guarantee for a wage increase even though we will have more responsibilities and the program will be longer. In all health authorities (including Interior) most LPN positions are in the Hospital Employees Union. HEU is a support workers union and LPNs make up a small part of the many other workers in that union. As a care aid you may already be an HEU member. Because LPNs make up such a small part of that union, nursing issues such as wage increases for increased scope of practice are not a big priority during bargaining so I wouldn't hold your breath for an increase. The last time our scope of practice increased in 2004 and we had more responsibility, we actually had our wages cut by 15% at the same time by our union. That was like a slap in the face for all LPNs and they were really upset about it. I guess you'll have to weigh the benefits of upgrading to LPN or not. Financially it makes more sense to stay as a care aid when you think of the tuition, student loans, textbooks, yearly licensing fee $236 due at Christmas time, and time taken to do the program. Also it is really really really hard for new grad LPNs to find work right now and it's been that way for several years.

Hey. I read how you're saying new graduated lpns are having a hard time finding work? Is that true? I was told they're in a huge demand right now. I'm from SK though and just moved to BC so wondering if its different here, as I'll be going to school here soon! Thanks!

Yes it's true that there are very few jobs for LPNs right now. It's been that way for several years. There was a shortage of LPNs about 10 years ago however the PN programs have expanded greatly since and now the number of LPNs has almost doubled in BC - from 6000 to 11,000. There is way more LPNs that there are jobs available. It doesn't mean that things won't change and there'll be more opportunities in the near future however for right now, permanent part time or full time positions are very very rare and you can expect to be looking for several months before you get a call for an interview. Jobs in hospitals are even more rare so you have to keep your options open as to where you want to work. I am only familiar with BC so things may very well be different in Saskatchewan so if that's where you intend to work, hopefully you've already looked into the job prospects there.