I love nursing in Canada because...

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Gennaver, MSN

1,686 Posts

Specializes in Ortho, Med surg and L&D.
Here, RPNs go to school for 2 years, and RNs go for 4 years. And around here rpns start at around 18 dollars an hour (Canadian). And i'm not sure which province is the overall warmest.. possibly BC, their winters aren't as cold; but here in southern ontario it can get to be 35 degrees celcius in the summer :)

Now, i have a question for you... in the states, who gives out the meds? LVNs or RNs?

Hello Lizzypooh,

I some hospitals in Chicago, (county) the lvns are called the med nurses and really all they do IS pass meds.

At one hospital where I worked the LVNs were teamed with an RN and pretty much did all that the RN did except for nursing diagnoses or passing narcotics.

Gen

p.s. I am not a nurse yet, have worked as a CNA for nearly 18 years and at various hospitals around here

lizliu

4 Posts

Hi I am a Rn in the USA and I am applying for both permenant resident visa and to write the exam in canada. I am so happy to here about all the pros of nursing in Canada. As a TB case manager/manager for five counties in New jersey it is wonderful and affirming to know that nursing in canada is close to my belief/practice where it is patient-centered without the stress us RN's have here. Ditto to nurses having the ability to enjoy the beauty of canada. However, i do want to ask about multidisciplinary collaboration esp. with the doctors.

Sarah, RNBScN

477 Posts

We have great multidiscipline teams. The hospital where I work do rounds every a.m. and weekends/holidays as well, from Dr's, dietician, social work, nurses, and physio. It is great for pt. care and nothing gets missed or lost in the cracks. This is a must and there is always 100% attendance with all health disciplines attending.

Hope this helps.

debbieuk

66 Posts

hello,

i am a UK nurse with a BA(Hons) in adult nursing and registered with the NMC. i would love to work in Canada in the OR but have no idea how to go about it. do i need to take any other exams (after 4 years studying i am a bit fed up!). canada seems a lovely place to live and you have proper seasons - we just have wet/ grey. your healthcare system is the same as ours though, which is another thing i like.

fergus51

6,620 Posts

hello,

i am a UK nurse with a BA(Hons) in adult nursing and registered with the NMC. i would love to work in Canada in the OR but have no idea how to go about it. do i need to take any other exams (after 4 years studying i am a bit fed up!). canada seems a lovely place to live and you have proper seasons - we just have wet/ grey. your healthcare system is the same as ours though, which is another thing i like.

You would need to contact the board of nursing for the province you are interested in to have them review your education, then write the Canadian RN exam. Unfortunately Canada and the US require that nurse be trained as generalists, not as specialists like in the UK so UK nurses do have to make up the hours in peds/ob/psych/med-surg that they are lacking. I know there are some UK nurses who have done this, and I believe one of them said she was going to make up the hours through Douglas College in British Columbia. http://www.healthmatchbc.org is the website that recruits nurses for BC and they would be able to tell you exactly what you'd need.

debbieuk

66 Posts

cheers, i will contact them

ISM

111 Posts

I am starting this thread because I would like feedback on the positives about nursing in Canada. I hear so much about people moving to the US and I would love to hear from those who are staying, living and nursing in Canada.

Cheers,

Anyone knows teaching hospitals/hospitals that sponsor foreign trained nurses and their families? I would like to work in Canada.

taeho53

7 Posts

i've been an emergency nurse for almost 8 years and been practicing in the uk at the moment,and i would like to apply to canada, do you have any idea on how much my annual salary would be? how's the cost of living and tax over there, is it much cheaper here in uk?

Specializes in M/S, OB, Ortho, ICU, Diabetes, QA/PI.

regarding the cold, I think your tolerance depends on what kind of cold you are used to - just like heat, there is a difference between wet cold and dry cold - my parents live in Nunavut and when they come visit me in Northern Michigan in the winter, they spend the whole time whining about how cold they are - I said once "Oh for God's sake, how can you be cold, you live in the freakin' Arctic?" my mom snapped back "It's wet cold here and dry cold there and there's a big difference you know!"

as for nursing, I've always been curious if I would like working in Canada but since I went to school in the US and only have US licenses and have been an RN for over a decade, the thought of re-writing my board exams makes me feel sick to my stomach (once was enough!!) - besides, my husband is American and I just went through all the BS of renewing my green card for another 10 years so I might as well stay here a while longer.........

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist

NotReady4PrimeTime, RN

5 Articles; 7,358 Posts

Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.
i've been an emergency nurse for almost 8 years and been practicing in the uk at the moment,and i would like to apply to canada, do you have any idea on how much my annual salary would be? how's the cost of living and tax over there, is it much cheaper here in uk?

You can find a cross-country comparison of wages and benefits at http://www.nursesunion.mb.ca that will help you figure out the answer to your first question. Some provinces have a provision that will give you credit for previous experience, but you need a "statement of portability", in essence a document that says you have worked as a registered nurse for X hours since Y date. In Alberta credit is based on hours worked so anything less than full time hours will decrease the number of steps up the ladder they'll give you.

As to taxes, they can be significant, but it depends on what you're used to. All provinces except Alberta have a provincial sales tax that ranges from 6 to 9%; in the Maritimes their sales tax has been harmonized with the national goods and services tax (like your VAT) of 7%, which gives then a net tax of 15%. Income taxes also vary by province. I swould expect, based on the amount of BBC programming I watch, that the cost of food, shelter, utilities and other necessities of life is lower here. One can purchase a very nice newer two storey 3 or 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom detached house on a large lot in many Canadian cities for roughly the cost of a 2 bedroom terraced house or walk-up flat in the UK. Property taxes vary widely depending on the city. Winnipeg, Manitoba has among the highest taxes in Canada on property.

The unit I work in has three nurses from the UK, one a single woman in her 40s who is now a Canadian citizen, the second a married mother of two in her 30s and another who is a married father of two in his late 30s, who also has no plans to return. All have a very high standard of living. We also have two nurses from Australia and one from New Zealand who are permanent residents now. If this is at all intriguing you, you have a lot more research to do, my friend. Trust me, we'd welcome you with open arms.

taeho53

7 Posts

thanks janfrn...

SuperFlyRN

108 Posts

Specializes in ER, Tele, L&D. ICU.

Canada's warmest province is Florida, after that it is southwestern BC right on the coast. I have read that places on Vancouver Island are the sunniest in Canada. But in the summer it is probably not the hottest, the weather there is moderated by the Pacific.

I'm confused about the Florida province thing unless you mean the snowbirds. I always thought Ontario was the warmest as our summers are looong and soo HOT!:devil: But I love it-

As far as nursing in Canada-I work contingent in Michigan (only 3-4 times a month) and there is a huge difference in respect, I find. Plus, the area I am in (LBRP) we are generally dealing with a *well* clientele, so it seems a little more customer service than I am happy with. Our birthing center is like a hotel and some people than think the "service" should be as such. I stopped working days, in part, due to the "my lunch is wrong", "why doesn't my cable work?" and all those other inane questions. Sorry if that seems insensitive, but I had a patient ring here emergency bell (our Code Blue light!) to ask someone to bring her some water because (and I kid you not) she was watching Survivor and did not want to miss the challenge...sigh.

But, Canadian nursing does rock-except the fact that you cannot strike in our union, other than that-cool.

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