registered nurse

health care aide

licensed practical nurse

registered mental health nurse

aide de service

Vancouver Coastal Health

Working conditions  are such that there are not enough staff members assigned for planned work-load  (elective surgeries).  For example inadequate personnel are assigned when executing procedures such as  a complex case where nursing support needs to be provided for anesthesia as well as for the surgical team performing surgery (elective or emergent). 
There is one anesthesia assistant available on day shift and one for partial coverage during the evening shift.  This coverage does help nurses and anesthesia but does not adequately provide coverage on an elective surgery day when there are two or more acute surgeries commencing simultaneously.
Educational opportunities are provided and some funds are available for studies off the hospital campus.
Staff are encouraged to participate in team-building activities when off-duty and these are successful events with very spirited involvement by the nurses working in surgical services.  
Personnel are assigned to specialty services according to their skills and interests.  Individuals may ask for assignments where they may expand their skills and knowledge according to their educational needs.  All of the Clinical Resource Team Leaders are very capable of supplying support for those who wish to expand their ability to perform scrub and circulating roles.  Strong support is provided for these efforts by the OR Educator.  The OR itself is a dynamic and challenging environment suited to those who wish to test their learning abilities and stamina.  
However leadership roles from amongst the "ranks" should be encouraged.  Other than the extra responsibility of charge duties
on the week-ends, evening and night shifts there is no opportunity or incentive to take on this onerous task which is not adequately compensated in monetary terms when comparing the work-load and degree of stress involved.

My job was all about multitasking various duties, such as printing needed materials, answering the phone/redirecting calls, answering colleagues' questions, setting up groups (booking rooms, confirming attendance with clients, preparing manuals and CD's for use within group, keeping Excel waitlist up-to-date), scoring and entering self-report measures in computer program, running reports and collecting stats. I also took meeting minutes, as well as maintained supplies and kept electronics in working order. Not to be overlooked is that I trained the new secretary in her position in the psychiatry clinics. I provided support with client appointments, etc. and transcription.
I actually enjoyed the adrenaline rush (if I may put it this way) that came from accomplishing various duties and being productive. I specifically enjoyed learning and applying desktop publishing skills, used to prepare manuals and working with Excel spreadsheets.
Unfortunately, I found management personnel to have a high turnover rate. On the one hand, I missed certain individuals that left; on the other hand, I enjoyed sharing information in order to bring new ones up to speed on my work duties and program procedures. I enjoyed working many years with certain ones of my colleagues.
What I found to be the hardest  part of my job was the sometimes unpleasant work atmosphere that arose from communication difficulties between some of my colleagues. I personally enjoyed a good work relationship with each of them though.
I truly loved my job and would never have left! But I eventually found myself alone in BC, without any family members nearby, all of them having moved to Ontario.

Too many layers of management within one department with no one taking accountability.  When they hit a glitch, they start to point fingers at others.  No support from managers for their team.  Too much red tape and beaucracy which frustrates patients.  They say People First, but it isn't people first for patients and certainly not for employees.  Under the Ministry of Health, they take millions of dollars of taxpayers money to profit in healthcare.

Pay is not good for administrative staff and there is no room for promotion but only horizontal moves.

Those who call under casual or temporary full-time are most disadvantaged.

Mgmt only appreciate you because they are short in staff and desperately need to keep you working.  Once they get what they want, you become just another employee #.  I have not met one manager who actually cares about the employees after them.

Young managers have power ego choosing to intimidate and bully rather than communicate in an effective way.  You may say this is an exaggeration but believe me, you will only experience this throughout Richmond VCH once you are in the system.  Then you become just another statistic.

You will only regret it if you work for Vancouver Coastal Health.  If you are, it is because you have fallen into the union umbrella and fit right into it all.

Workload is insane for the low pay. Minimum 5 ventilated patients in ICU for example, but could go up to 8. Paper charting, taking ABGs after every small vent change. 

Most coworkers were nice but some just treat you as if you're beneath them. My orienteer would sometimes laugh condescendingly when I made mistakes and assumed I was deliberately ignoring patients when I forgot a task. Management can easily come off as insensitive with their attitude or word choice. 

They will also have a "mistakes list" filed on you in secret when starting. It not only compiles serious infractions, but minor errors like going for lunch an hour late (they do not bother asking you to explain the situation). If this list grows sufficiently large it will be brought up in front of all the charge RTs and union, and you'll be quizzed in all future shifts. You'd better be able to answer these questions or you're at serious risk of termination. This questioning makes up a bulk of the "support" they promise you if you need it. They really want to emphasize how much they support you but they make up their mind about you pretty early on, and I suspect they only emphasize it due to the union getting on their case about all the RTs who have quit/been fired in the past year.


Staffing Clerk Position is a very stressful job.  In a small town where there is not enough nursing staff from careaids, LPNs, to RNs...its always the same people doing overtime and staff are burnt out. 
You need to know many different unions and who you can pull to cover a shift  sometimes spending hours filling one shift and pulling 5 staff from other areas in order to cover just one shift. 
Powell River is overseen by Vanouver North Shore managment and they never say anything unless its negative. If a mistake is made and there is a grievance it comes out of staffings budget so again you will be reprimanded. There is major drama and backstabbing in such a small department....so BEWARE!
The pay is great....but managment from Vancouver also thought it was a great idea to change rotations with 2 weeks notice so the full time positions work 5 months of weekends in their rotations and then 2 weeks of one day of weekend in rotation followed by 5 weekend off in a row...so cant have much of a life.  If your relief does not come in (which also happens often there) you are stuck and have no choice but to stay.

For my first client, I would take him for wellness walks around his neighbourhood or in surrounding parks or beaches.  Lacking the ability to initiate conversation meant that my goal was to first of all get him doing something active, but also to encourage him to initiate within a conversation.  I would take him for a walk once a week for about two hours.

For my second client, I was introduced to a physiotherapist who gave me a general idea of what to work on with the client as well as any health contraindications.  With this, I followed the lead of the volunteer before me and would take her into the gym for about an hour workout of either upper body or lower body and then into the pool for some "Aqua Fit" exercises.  I would meet up with her once a week for about two hours.

I really enjoyed volunteering with VCH because it was easy to work full-time and volunteer as well.  The hours are very flexible in regards to seeing clients as the volunteer coordinator makes sure to match you up with someone who fits your schedule.  I would recommend this volunteer position to anyone!

What is the best part of working at the company?
I feel that the staff, nurses and doctors do their best to treat the public, our clients and our residents the best they can to provide for patients needs. One of the biggest things I enjoyed about my job was helping people and trying to make a difference in a patients life. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Trying to meet deadlines can be challenging. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Culture depends on the immediate manager and supervisor and how employees are treated. Unfortunately the Human Resources Department Employee Engagement Department of Vancouver Coastal Health do not treat their employees good at all. The HR Advisors provide little help to the employees and the whole culture of the Human Resource Department is very punitive. This culture stems right from the top down to the HR Department. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Providing services for our patients, families and the public. Doing my best to help our patients. Steady work flow to meet our targets.

I feel very fortunate to work for VCH.  I love the culture and the people.  I  work  with such kind and genuine people, who go above and beyond and truly want to make a difference in the lives of others. Management is very supportive, as are other staff members.  The work is challenging enough, but not overwhelming.  Regardless of the department I’ve interacted with, I’ve had positive experiences.  I feel I am well compensated for what I do, I like what I do, and I actually look forward to being at work (I know, crazy eh?). If I have one “complaint “ it is with PHSA (Provincial Health Services Authority), who are responsible for our payroll and benefits.  PSHA has not honoured my contract with VCH, and has consistently withheld (refused to pay) a percentage of my income.  If you work for VCH, please check and double check your paystubs.  If you are a temporary or casual employee, do make sure PSHA are calculating your statcas% according to the collective agreement.  This is Vancouver, and every penny counts - especially if you’re working hard for it!

I love the people I work with,  they are dedicated to supporting our community health objectives.  I get a lot of satisfaction from working with our multidisciplinary team.  Seeing health care from other health professional's viewpoints helps me to improve my practice.
The issue arise due to the size of the organization.  The frontline workers needs are often neglected by management because they are so far removed from our work situations.  We need more support from management to meet our personal needs.  We work with difficult populations and sometimes suffer greatly personally due to the atrocities we encounter.  That added to our own personal life issues, brings addition of stress to our lives. We are often not supported in taking care of our own needs.  It is a shame when we need time to look after our own families we are confronted by obstacles.  Often we are denied time off which is ironic when we are caring for other peoples families in our work.  
I have worked for VCH for so many years because of the satisfaction I get from the clients and my colleagues, I wish I could feel more supported from the managers.

Being a new LPN it can be intimidating and overwhelming to be introduced into a new health care setting. During my time at DCHC I was welcomed as part of the team immediately.The passion that exuded from the professionals I had the pleasure to learn from and work with was wonderful. A typical day at work consisted of exceptional client care with the use of significant knowledge and judgement skills. I was able to use my full nursing scope as well as expand and implement my better understanding of prevention and holistic techniques based on the individual. My co-workers were encouraging, supportive, knowledgeable and compassionate professionals. At times the job is overwhelming because there are many outlets to learn and do all at once but for me that is very enjoyable to be consistantley challenged and always learning something new.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Registered nurse 57 salaries reported	$48.61 per hour
Health care aide 190 salaries reported	$25.83 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 20 salaries reported	$36.07 per hour
Registered mental health nurse 22 salaries reported	$49.36 per hour
Aide de service 40 salaries reported	$31.53 per hour

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