RPN work in Toronto

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Hi -

I could use some advice. I recently graduated from a two-year RN program in the United States and passed my NCLEX-RN on Monday. I am moving to Toronto next week and am in the middle of the process to become licensed in Ontario. I have resigned myself to the fact I'll only be able to practice as an RPN in Ontario despite my more in-depth training as an RN in the US. My question, however, is as I wrap up getting licensed in Ontario, what hospitals in the Toronto area will even still hire RPNs? Any leads at all would be most appreciated.

Regards and thanks in advance -

Matt

Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Hospitals that currently employ rpns include: Bridgepoint Hosp.Credit valley,Halton Healthcare sites in Milton and Oakville,Hamilton Health Sciences(4 sites),Humber River Regional Hospital,Joseph Brant Memorial,Markham Stouffville Hosp.,North York General Hosp.,Princess Margaret,Toronto General,Scarborough Hosp.,St. Joseph's Health Centre,Toronto East General Hospital,Toronto Grace Hospital,York Central Hosp.Plus there are many rehab centres that hire rpns as well

My rpn class had a guest speaker earlier this year that discussed employment opportunities in an effort to dispell the erroneous idea that no one hires rpns any more.

Hope this helps.Best of luck to you.

First issue that comes to my mind, do you have a visa that will permit you to work in Canada? The RN is entitled to the NAFTA TN Visa, but you must have a four year degree to qualify for that in Ontario.

Normally, you will not be able to get a working visa/permit as an American to work in Ontario as an RPN.

The other option that you will have available to you is to travel to the US every other week and do a block of shifts, either in the NY or the Detroit area. You could work as an RN for a few days straight, such as six shifts, and then go to Toronto for the other eight days.

People do things like that all of the time, you may find that the easiest.

Check with the licensing board there since the RPN programs are now three years in Ontario.

So I Can Work In Detroit Or Ny And Live In Toronto. How Far Apart Are The Cities. Would I Drive Home Every Day Or Have To Live In Ny For Those 6 Days. I Am Moving To Canada And Have A Adn And A Bs In Health Admininistration. Would I Still Need The Bsn To Work. I Think We May Live In Toronto But I Need To Know Areas To Live In B/c Im Not Impressed With The Amount Of House U Get In Canada For The Money. I Dont Know If I Could Maintain On The Small Nurses Salary In Canada Compared To The Us. How Do I Start This Process. Helppp!

Specializes in Emergency.

Buffalo New York is only about 2-2.5hrs from Toronto. Detroit is about 4-5 (I think). I've heard other posters on this forum talk about how a number of nurses who live in Windsor Ontario work in Detroit. Communiting might not be a bad idea like Suzanne suggested. If you are interested in it though, I'd skip out on Detroit, the highway from Toronto to Detroit can get really bad in the winter, and has been known to have some pretty big pileups in whiteout conditions. The drive to Buffalo is a breeze from Toronto.

Housing in Toronto is REALLY expensive, but if you start looking into the suburbs it gets somewhat cheaper. If you do decide to do commute from Toronto to Buffalo, I'd start looking at the smaller cities b/w the two. There are quite a few, and much cheaper than actually living in TO.

2 year RN program in US...hows that? RPN in Ontario is 2 years as well? please clarify...im interested

Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

You might notice that this is a very old thread...

There are still 2 year diploma RN programs in the US, but they have gone the way of the dodo here in Canada in favour of the bachelor's degree in nursing. The last of the diploma classes is already part way through to graduation. Manitoba is the exception, but I think they're turfing theirs too. And as the scope of practice for practical nurses has expanded, their education too has lengthened so that it is now 2 years in most places.

Specializes in psychiatry.

And, to confuse things furthur: RPN is the designation for Registered Psychiatric Nurses in the 4 western Canadian provinces and the 2 territories. RPN as a designation for Registerd Practical Nurses only applies in Ontario. The rest of Canada has LPNs (Licensed Practical Nurses). I am a RPN (Registered Psychiatric Nurse) and am not recognized in Ontario and, therefore, we have some serious labour mobility issues here in Canada.

resigned yourself as having to work as an RPN??? iam guessing you havent looked into the qualifications if you are saying that.. as an RPN myself i have worked in ICU EMERG and a number of other areas... so there really isnt much difference in the programs as the new RPN diploma program is the old RN program before it went to a degree. you can work anywhere.. toronto is the place where RPN's use there skills the most and i would say windsor, ontario you would use them the least..at least when i worked there my skills were really unappreciate. The differences in how far your scope is will depend on which hospital you work for.. they vary so much that there isnt one answer. The real thing your going to notice is the pay.. work in toronto.. you will use all those skills you learned.. also i would say you have resigned to working as an RPN as iam one who spent two years in the program and that could be a little offensive to your future co workers... good luck on the job search.. there are may websites with job opportunities especially in the GTA

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