Career Opportunities
The Langara College Nursing Program provides students with a broad base of knowledge and skills to practice nursing in today’s and tomorrow’s complex health care system. With a focus on caring and health promotion, students learn to work with individuals, families, communities, and health professionals in a variety of practice settings. The program assists students to develop sensitivity to people’s experiences with health and healing. Educational methods emphasize student and faculty interactions and individual learning processes.
Registered Nurses work in the public interest. There is an ever-increasing demand for Registered Nurses and there are many opportunities for graduates of the Langara College BSN Program. Graduates may find employment in:
- acute care agencies in areas such as medicine, surgery, orthopedics, burns, trauma, intensive care, and coronary care
- maternal-child health
- mental health
- occupational health
- pediatrics
- public health
- tele-health
Employment opportunities increase with further education and work experience leading to careers in:
- education
- advanced practice
- research
- administration
Occupational Demands
You should consider the following points relative to nurses' work and the demands associated with nursing.
General Health
- Nurses work shifts that are usually 8 or 12 hours in length.
- Scheduled working time involves considerable time walking, standing for prolonged periods, bending, lifting or transferring people and/or objects. Nurses need to be able to move quickly and efficiently and move in tight places
- Nurses frequently need to be able to lift and turn heavy patients without harming themselves or the patient. Most lifting loads are approximately 22 kg (50 lbs).
- Nurses need to be physically fit in order to be active throughout the workday. Nurses' activity level could be a problem for persons with leg, back, or foot problems. Anyone with limited muscle strength or limited physical endurance could potentially experience difficulties.
- Nurses perform skills that require a high level of manual dexterity and coordination, such as injections and dressing changes. Any person with eye-hand coordination difficulties could experience difficulty performing such tasks.
- Nurses give emotional support to others and work in stressful and anxiety-provoking situations. This may pose difficulty for anyone with emotional, social, or psychological concerns or one who has difficulty dealing with personal stress or anxiety or with people experiencing stress or anxiety.
- Nurses wash their hands very frequently with antiseptic soaps and often wear rubber/latex gloves. This may be a problem for anyone with skin allergies or sensitive skin. If you have a chronic skin condition that affects your hands, the exposure to water and chemicals may aggravate your condition. In most hospitals, non-latex/rubber gloves are made available.
- If you suspect that you may have a latex allergy, you need to be tested to determine if you are allergic to latex. Note: Food allergies to avocado, banana, chestnut, kiwi, papaya, potato and tomato show some correlation to latex allergy. If you test positive for a latex allergy, nursing may not be a suitable profession for you.
Study Skills
Students require skills to support their learning and studying while in an academic program. Some of these skills include: study strategies, examination taking, time management, appropriate assertiveness, and stress management. If you would like to work on your skills in any of these areas, contact the counselling department at Langara College.
