Sunday, November 30, 2014

Celebrating Men in Nursing

While historically women have typically dominated the nursing field in Canada, those numbers are slowly starting to change as more and more men enroll in nursing programs across the country. This change is the result of growing incentives, active recruiting and the deconstruction of social obstacles that have traditionally kept men away from the nursing profession.

Nursing with its challenging roles and vast number of different opportunities is more than ever, recognized by both men and women as an exciting career choice. In a time when jobs are scarce and over-educated individuals are accepting any entry level position available, the field of nursing lets new grads, that have completed the NCLEX-RN, start work almost immediately in a variety of fields that offer a completive salaries.

Schools are showing a definite increase in the numbers of male students registered in nursing programs and different areas are looking at creative ways to support and engage with our male nursing colleagues.

In Calgary, male students are taking a proactive approach by creating their own groups to encourage and support their gender in the nursing profession. And masculinity studies are an interesting area of gender research occurring in nursing and social sciences.  Calgary's Nursing Guy's Club pledges to promote positive messages regarding male nurses by developing a community where men can speak freely about their experiences in nursing.

Another exciting example of male leadership in nursing can be found in a British Columbia nurse Jae-Yung Kwon, whose book: “A lonely Bee in the Land of Flowers” detailing his experiences as a male nursing student is available on Amazon. Groups like the Calgary student group and nurses like Jae-Yung are one of the many ways the nursing community is working to break down the gender stereotypes of the profession.

At PRIMED one of our most experienced nursing educators is Ken McDonald. Ken is a graduate of Kwantlen University College. He also received his Masters in nursing from the University of British Columbia and currently works in nursing leadership and administration, with a keen focus on mental health nursing.


At PRIMED we are thankful for Ken's ongoing contributions to our program, as well as to the many other men that are actively engaged in the Canadian HealthCare System as registered nurses.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Famous Canadian Nurses: Mary Ellen Birtles

PRIMED educational associates is a Canadian nursing institution that is dedicated to helping nursing graduates achieve success on their exams through education and support. As NCLEX prep educators, we train nurses to be valuable members of the Canadian healthcare system. Our courses prepare nursing graduates for the final test before becoming registered nurses in Canada. But our program and all of the nursing programs in Canada, would not be where they are today without the dedication and resilience of a select group of Canadian nurses that started a tradition of exemplary education services.

This week we would like to honour one of Western Canada's most recognized nurses and a pioneer in the field of nursing education in our country. This is a brief summary of the life of Mary Ellen Birtles - a leader; a teacher; a nurse.


Mary Ellen Birtles was one of the first nurses trained in Canada. Her family emigrated from Yorkshire, England and settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She briefly taught at a schoolhouse, where her father was working, but switched professions to work as an aide at the Winnipeg General Hospital in 1886. With no formal training establishment for nursing, Birtles began her medical career by acquiring practical knowledge. "Sometimes we got a little instruction from the doctor on his rounds," Birltes was quoted as saying, "but we were fortunate in finding some books in a second-hand bookstore, on anatomy and physiology; from these we studied together with a book on nursing by Florence Nightingale."

In 1887, a nursing school was finally established at Winnipeg General Hospital and Birtles was one of the first three graduates in 1889. She left Winnipeg to travel to North Dakota, where she worked in a hospital for a few short months south of the border. She left the Union to help with a new hospital that was opening in Medicine Hat, which at the time was part of the Northwest Territories.

The Medicine Hat General Hospital was one the first in the territories and was the only hospital between Winnipeg and Victoria. She worked as an assistant to the matron nurse, Grace Reynolds. Reynolds had been trained in England by a Miss Gordan, who herself had been trained by the author of Birtles early textbooks, Florence Nightingale.

At MHGS, Birtles and the other nurses were responsible for the complete upkeep of the hospital. Their duties included cooking, cleaning, maintaining the furnace, looking after patients and assisting with surgery. Their only only off hours were on Sunday, when they were excused from their duties to attend church.

Much of their time was spent attending patients with broken limbs. Most of these breaks were the result of pioneers falling from their horses.

As a Canadian field nurse, Birtles relied heavily on her early schooling, but she was also required to invent her own methods. Thinking on one's feet and developing new techniques, was all part of working in a remote environment.


During her time in Medicine Hat, a typhoid epidemic broke out and Birtles contracted the fever from one of her patients. She recovered, under the care of Grace Reynolds, who miraculously avoided the disease.

In 1892 she was offered the head nurse position in Brandon, Manitoba, which she held for two years before returning west to take up the reigns of Calgary's first hospital, Calgary General. With 25 permanent beds and only a few trained nurses under her watch (she was apparently extremely strict), Birtles opened a nursing school with three other nurses to boost the number of trained medical professionals in the Calgary area. Her extensive field experience, academic nature and early work in the schoolhouse made her a natural for the position. Even with this background, Birtles questioned her abilities as a teacher. It was her pioneer spirit that prevailed, leading to the opening of the school. "I felt I knew very little to face the world with," she claimed, "but by dint of reading and studying and using the powers of observation, I gathered up all I could."

As if opening two hospitals and a school was not enough, Birtles went on to extend her expertise into the new field of aseptic procedure. To reduce the costs of disinfectants and sterilized instruments, Birtles learned to mix compounds without the help of the local pharmacists. This produced huge savings for the hospital and the funds were able to go to more pressing concerns.

In 1898, she moved back to Brandon where she continued to work at the Brandon General Hospital until 1919.


For her dedication to the nursing field in Western Canada, Mary Ellen Birtles was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1935 by the Governor General of Canada.


Friday, November 21, 2014

What is it like in the PRIMED Classroom?

The Primed Classroom

We are often asked by prospective students to describe the PRIMED classroom experience. In answering this question, we first assure the individual that our classrooms are not like a regular lecture. We like to refer to the educational setting as a 'Cooperative Learning Environment' where student-based learning operates on a constructivist model. In layman’s terms, we move forward as a group towards a successful understanding of the material and concepts assessed on the NCLEX.

Both our online environment and our classroom setting build comprehension through open discussion. During the two days of instruction, educators work with students to increase their proficiency of the core topics that will be covered in the NCLEX-RN. During this instruction, students are encouraged to ask questions and share their own experiences so the group as a whole can benefit from the cooperative environment created by the PRIMED education format and the NCLEX prep.

Students are also taught various memory techniques during the PRIMED classroom experience. These strategies help nurses retain many of the details outlined in the NCLEX courses. At the completion of the course, instructors help individual students identify which areas they need to brush up on.

The total hours of instruction are approximately 16. But the help doesn’t stop there. Along with the classroom instruction, students receive a 200-page study guide. This guide is a takeaway document that helps students organize their time and their knowledge of the necessary material. This guide is accompanied by ongoing support from the PRIMED team.

Our ultimate goal is for students to leave our courses feeling confident about taking the exam. The NCLEX can be a daunting test. Aligning with the PRIMED team is the best way to prepare. We firmly believe that our instruction will lead nursing graduates to success on the NCLEX-RN.

For a current list of testimonials, visit: www.primededucation.ca/about-us/testimonials-2/


Sunday, November 16, 2014

NCLEX Prep: The PRIMED Classroom Experience

We are often asked by prospective students to describe the PRIMED classroom experience. In answering this question, we first assure the individual that our classrooms are not like a regular lecture. We like to refer to the educational setting as a 'Cooperative Learning Environment' where student-based learning operates on a constructivist model. In layman’s terms, we move forward as a group towards a successful understanding of the material and concepts assessed on the NCLEX.

Both our online environment and our classroom setting build comprehension through open discussion. During the two days of instruction, educators work with students to increase their proficiency of the core topics that will be covered in the NCLEX-RN. During this instruction, students are encouraged to ask questions and share their own experiences so the group as a whole can benefit from the cooperative environment created by the PRIMED education format and the NCLEX prep.

Students are also taught various memory techniques during the PRIMED classroom experience. These strategies help nurses retain many of the details outlined in the NCLEX courses. At the completion of the course, instructors help individual students identify which areas they need to brush up on.

The total hours of instruction are approximately 16. But the help doesn’t stop there. Along with the classroom instruction, students receive a 200-page study guide. This guide is a takeaway document that helps students organize their time and their knowledge of the necessary material. This guide is accompanied by ongoing support from the PRIMED team.

Our ultimate goal is for students to leave our courses feeling confident about taking the exam. The NCLEX can be a daunting test. Aligning with the PRIMED team is the best way to prepare. We firmly believe that our instruction will lead nursing graduates to success on the NCLEX-RN.


For a current list of testimonials, visit: www.primededucation.ca/about-us/testimonials-2/