Nursing in Canada

Hello, I work in Atlantic Canada. There is a nursing shortage here. We are 1000 RN's short and we are only a small province. There are people that graduated from the Hospital RN's programs working but the Association of Registered Nurses made a mandate that all new RN's have a minimum of BN, BSN, BScN now for licensure. The hospital program RN's were "grandfathered" in. We do not have associates degrees in Canada. There is no shortage of LPN's here. I am not on the top step of our pay scale yet, there is one more step for me as a floor RN and I make around $70,000/year (there are 6 steps). Average house cost is around $250,000 but you can get houses for less and much more. Some Docs are great and treat you with respect and others will hang up on you and are A$$holes! We don't really have to wear uniforms, per se. We are allowed to wear comfortable work clothes (no sweat pants, jeans, logo shirts etc). But almost everyone wears a uniform. We wear all colors and makes. There are a lot of male RN's. They tend to wear uniform pants and golf shirts. Where are you from??

Moved to the Canadian forums for a better response

Do our hospitals pay for tuition? NO. They are government-funded and tax-payer supported. They may offer some small concessions that help a person with educational aspirations but in general, you're lucky if you are permitted to schedule around your classes. My hospital doesn't even subsidize PALS, ACLS or TNCC.

The difference between BN, BSN and BScN is negligible. The university granting the degree determines what they're going to call it, purely and simply. The content and curriculum varies little from school to school.

Physicians aren't typically "super-rich" but they do make a good living. Some specialties are paid REALLY well, such as cardiovascular surgeons, intensivists and radiologists. But the average general practitioner isn't rich.

While Alberta hospitals may not, many hospitals in Ontario do pay tuition for full or part time employees who pursure relevant diplomas or degrees. Many Ontario hospitals also provide funds for ongoing professional development and conferences. Ontario has been offering tuition assistance for about 10 years, not sure what the other provinces are doing... can anyone else share what is going on in their province?
dishes

Is this research for a paper? If you look through various threads, you will see all your questions are answered.

In Ontario, where I am, RNs need their BScN.
Nurse/pt ratio varies from hospital to hospital, but unlike American hospitals, we do not have CNAs (or PSWs as we call them) - nurses seem to have a lot more hands on care here - as near as I can figure form these forums at least!
As for our health care system vs the US system, - I have never worked in the US but all I can say is I think ours is better because we are focused on pt care,not customer service.
I have to admit, my impressions of the US system is based on this forum, not personal experience, but the Canadian system seems much more pt focused than the US. I think its like comparing apples to oranges. The systems are just too different to make a fair comparison.