Canadian nursers leaving to work in the USA.

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I am a 2nd year nursing student in British Columbia. My concern is that so many nurses are leaving to work in the US (5,400 Ontario nurses). We are losing trained nurses and this may result in a worse shortage than we already have. How do you feel about this trend?

Thanks fergus51, canoehead, and epg-pei.

Your comments are appreciated.

Any ideas what could be changed to keep nurses in Canada?

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RN Student-NIC

Hi

I worked in Canada from 1996-2001 and my student loans are paid. I left to work in a specialty area and to make more money. I got 12 weeks paid training and continued education, the ratios are better, I was even given benefits even for a part-time position. You can't get that in Ontario - not to mention they actually have full time position with fully paid benefits including orthodontics and a employer funded 401K.

Canada needs to wake up and smell the Tim Hortons!

Just be careful of where you go, there are a LOT of American nurses being treated like crap as well.

:chuckle Yes that's so true. Especially in West Virginia!

Just to let you all know, the Ontario government may be getting the message. They have added millions over the last few months specifically to increase the numbers of full-time nurses. In our small (190 beds)community hospital this will translate into 8 full-time RN jobs as well as 9 non-clinical jobs to help nurses stay at the bedside and stop doing things like emptiing linen bags and doing clerical work. So maybe there is hope??

My understanding is that we are aiming for at least 70% of RN's to be full-time.

It is funny how the nurses from the UK are coming to Canada and the US and the US nurses are wanting to come to Canada and the UK. Some people here in the US are willing to forgo the pay and the perks of working here so that they can have the way of life that is offered in the UK and Canada.

The US way of life is not that popular with the Americans at the moment and it has been on a steady decline for the past 10 yrs.

Many fellow nurses talk about if they could they would pack up and leave the country in a heartbeat.

I keep hearing how the provinces outside of BC and Ontario are the way to go for nursing.

:balloons:

If not for the current government, I would be in BC. I LOVE it there. More than any place on earth (and I have lived in more than a few places over the years!).

But until they get it together, I am off to the US again, then who knows? Ireland? Scotland? The world is my oyster, whatever that means:)

hi guys,i am an r.n here in MB and i am new to the site.i work in cardiology for over a year now and i find that there are too much politics involved here.i am actually fr. another country and earned ny b.s.n. there.i am working in th biggest hospital here in manitoba and yet my ward is dissolving in a couple of months.they are transferring our cabg's and cardiology in a smaller hospital bec.they were granted bigger budget.that is why most of my co workers are planning to go to the states.staffing is so bad in here too.we are usually short staffed and of course overworked.they wont even pay for missed breaks which is caused by lack of staff relief.i am actually in the process of looking for a job in the states.any suggestions?i just want to find a good place for my family of 3 kids and a good hosp.to work and provide me with better training and work condition.how do i get started?any reply will be appreciated.thanx.

:o It is distressing to find that so many Canadian nurses are so unhappy with their work conditions. I know of a few Brits who have moved from the UK to Canada because the conditions in the UK were so bad and they find Canada a lot nicer.

I cannot see myself staying here in the states especially not Virginia. Since I passed the LPN boards and now working towards my RN, the LPN jobs are few and far between and I am finding that a lot of places are not very flexible. The RN schools have extensive waiting lists and a lot of red tape to get into.

I would like to hear some good things about working in Canada as a nurse.

Personally, I like working in Canada in general for a few reasons. I like the unionized environment, I like the fact that hospitals are not for profit, I like the fact that ratios are usually good and that we don't have that "customer" idea up here too much yet.

Specializes in Med/Surg, LTC.

I agree, Fergus51. Its easy to think the grass is greener on the other side. My experience is that , as a Canadian citizen, I did my nurses training in South Africa, which is very much like the UK and Australia I believe. I came back to Canada, did the required OB, paeds and psych and passed my Canadian boards. That was 24 years ago! I went back to SA, but was determined, after nursing in Canada for a while, not to go back nursing in SA. Now I am back in BC, did my refresher course, and I LOVE nursing here. I haven't had the experience of working in the US, and must admit, all the talk about it is tempting. But after going back and forth, I am happy to be in LTC, part of a union, have a.7 position, days only, feel valued in a team, despite complex and daily problems which arise re: staffing, shortages etc. That seems the world over. If I were younger, and in my 20's I probably would take all the opportunities at hand though and go for it! It seems a lot of Canadian nurses eventually come back.

Canada will continue to lose nurses to the US as long as they are treated like they are currently. When I graduated 9 years ago, there was no work except scattered casual where you were lucky to get 8 hrs/pp. I moved to the US, 3 months after graduation and had a full time job ever since with as much OT as I want. My salary is almost 2 X what I could make in Canada and I have more opportunities for advancement (I start CRNA school in about 2 months). Sure, I miss Canada and I love to visit my family, but fact is, I will never get the respect, autonomy, security, opportunity or salary that I can here in the US...so here I stay! Only when the hospitals are falling down around them will the Canadian Gov. realize that nurses are essential to healthcare and maybe then they will stop treating us like dirt! IMO.

I am in my last six weeks of school here in Saskatchewan and I can tell you that the prospects of me getting anything but casual positions is pretty grim. This is very upseting to me because I have worked very hard for my degree and feel I deserve to start making a difference in my new profession. I also bought a house in my home city when I was told last year that things would change and there would be full time jobs when I was done. Our health region has cut jobs layed off nurses and yet they are paying through the roof for overtime. I am now considering selling the house I haven't even moved into because there are full time positions in the US ready and waiting and they are even in the areas that I enjoyed most in school. I was fully ready and willing to take a job on a ward that I wasn't all that interested in here in Saskatchewan but that isn't even an option for me because there are no jobs there either. The Canadian government better step up to the plate and soon or they are going to have an even bigger crisis on their hands. I love my country and truly wanted to stay here and work but it looks like it won't happen unless I work as a nurse and a waitress.

I am a 2nd year nursing student in British Columbia. My concern is that so many nurses are leaving to work in the US (5,400 Ontario nurses). We are losing trained nurses and this may result in a worse shortage than we already have. How do you feel about this trend?

I am in my last six weeks of school here in Saskatchewan and I can tell you that the prospects of me getting anything but casual positions is pretty grim. This is very upseting to me because I have worked very hard for my degree and feel I deserve to start making a difference in my new profession. I also bought a house in my home city when I was told last year that things would change and there would be full time jobs when I was done. Our health region has cut jobs layed off nurses and yet they are paying through the roof for overtime. I am now considering selling the house I haven't even moved into because there are full time positions in the US ready and waiting and they are even in the areas that I enjoyed most in school. I was fully ready and willing to take a job on a ward that I wasn't all that interested in here in Saskatchewan but that isn't even an option for me because there are no jobs there either. The Canadian government better step up to the plate and soon or they are going to have an even bigger crisis on their hands. I love my country and truly wanted to stay here and work but it looks like it won't happen unless I work as a nurse and a waitress.

Specializes in Psych, Informatics, Biostatistics.

I predict: a return to Canada movement. I have been in the US since 1987. I have watched as Bush has slaughtered innocent women and children in foreign countries. If he gets back in, I am done.

The basic reason for residing in the states is going south. I have watched the Canadian dollar go from 63 cents to 82 cents. As well I see the future of Social Security here in the US as being unsound compared to Canada's. Our Yahoo president wants to bomb anyone who he sees as an enemy.

As if this were not enough the American government has passed a law forcing us old nurses to rewrite our boards if we want to continue practicing here in the US. We have till July 2005.

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