Best hospital in Central Manitoba

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Dec 12, 2008

Manitoba in April can be pretty cold! In 1997 Winnipeg got 3 feet of snow over a single weekend in April and the massive melting resulted in a flood of Biblical proportions. Our house was snowed in to the extent that we had to put our youngest daughter out the bathroom window so she could shovel a path to the front door.

Central Manitoba is basically a vast, sporificely populated area with lots of large lakes. Most larger towns have hospitals; Gimli and Teulon might be good choices. Selkirk and Stonewall are nice towns too. They're not too far from Winnipeg. Thompson is quite a bit farther north and more isolated. Check out this site: http://www.irha.mb.ca/about.htm for some more information. As for being close to a university, there are three in Manitoba, the Universities of Manitoba and Winnipeg are in Winnipeg and Brandon University is in Brandon (almost 3 hours west of Winnipeg). Actually, Brandon is a very nice town and has a good hospital. (My son was a patient there a couple of times.) But BU doesn't have a Masters of nursing program that I can find.

lady_dreamer · Dec 12, 2008

thanks for the reply janfrn. Your post is very helpful. I am not very familiar with Manitoba. There are not much to read even on the internet about Manitoba or Central Region in particular.

I just hope that I will be assigned in a good and peaceful place that somehow has a city-like kind of living, near a good university. I hope that I will be assigned in a hospital that has a friendly and nurturing staff that could help me learn and improve my skills.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Dec 12, 2008

You're very welcome. You might want to look at this site for some information about the province and its special features: http://www.travelmanitoba.com/ This site has a lot of specific information too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manitoba You can also Google individual towns for more information about them. You do need to know that there are only two cities in the province and Brandon is only a city because it calls itself one. The population is about 41,000. Thompson has a population of 13,500 or so, Portage la Prairie about 12,700 and so on. The culture there is very rural farm-based. There's also a large Aboriginal population.

I lived in Winnipeg for many years and still have ties there.

oludipe7 · Dec 22, 2008

hello, I am a Nigerian Nurse planning to migrate to Canada, I have registered with the CRNM as a grad nurse, and am to be registered for the CRNE in february. I have also secured an offer of employment from Grace Hospital, but I don't have a visa yet, anybody got any advice for me on an immigration consultant whose fees are not too high and who can help secure a visa in good time? or is there anybody here who can help?

thanks all..

Silverdragon102, BSN · Dec 22, 2008

hello, I am a Nigerian Nurse planning to migrate to Canada, I have registered with the CRNM as a grad nurse, and am to be registered for the CRNE in february. I have also secured an offer of employment from Grace Hospital, but I don't have a visa yet, anybody got any advice for me on an immigration consultant whose fees are not too high and who can help secure a visa in good time? or is there anybody here who can help?
thanks all..

Don't need a immigrant consultant. You just need to get LMO from employer, submit application to your local embassy (forms can be found on the Canadian CIC website) but I think you are pushing it for Feb as you will need a medical and average processing times are 4-6 months. You will not get a visa without a medical. You may have to consider changing your CRNE date to June

Fiona59 · Dec 22, 2008

Which city in Manitoba?

There are often Grace Hospitals in more than one. It's just a popular name for hospitals out here.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Dec 23, 2008

The only Grace Hospital in Manitoba is the one at 300 Booth Drive in Winnipeg. It's a Salvation Army affiliated hospital.

bradons · Dec 29, 2008

When I graduate in 2010 (yes its getting close) I am staying in the Parkland (not dauphin). I have been entertained by SK and AB but for now I'm sticking around here. Really nice area and I grew up here so I'm thinking of staying put and working in the area.

lady_dreamer · Dec 29, 2008

Which city in Manitoba?
There are often Grace Hospitals in more than one. It's just a popular name for hospitals out here.

Hello! :nurse:

I don't know what city exactly but I'll be working for "RHA of Central Manitoba". Unfortunately, I don't have any info regarding the area, including the lving conditions and the hospital that I'll be working in.

The HR personnel of RHA of Central Manitoba said that It is a 30-45 min drive away from Winnipeg. I hope I could get as much info as possible regarding the place and the working environment.

Thank you for the infos.

Happy Christmas to everyone!

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Dec 29, 2008

The RHA of Central Manitoba covers an area between the US border and Lake Winnipeg north and south and from just outside the city of Winnipeg to just outside the city of Brandon. The major towns in the region are Portage la Prairie, Carman, Morden, Winkler and Morris. These are all basically towns, not cities. Portage has a former Canadian Air Force Base now commissioned as a pilot training school. The Mennonite communities of Morden and Winkler have a combined hospital roughly half way between the two towns. There are many Hutterite colonies in the region (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutterite) and several larger First Nations reserves. The economy is mainly a farm-based one.

Working conditions in the hospitals will vary from place to place depending on staffing levels and the number of elderly people in the catchment area. Most of the hospitals are combined acute and long-term care facilities. The workload is probably fairly high, otherwise they wouldn't be recruiting from offshore. The Manitoba Nurses' Union is very involved in ensuring safety for both the patients and the staff of all unionized facilities in the province. Their website might offer some information (http://www.nursesunion.mb.ca).

daniel888_rn · Dec 31, 2008

Winter is not a problem: manageable with proper clothing.

Do you have a choice were to work?

An important thing to consider when choosing between hospitals is the staff you deal with day-in and day-out. If many of the staff are not happy, chances are they will spread their negativity and make your life miserable. Unhappy staff is a red-flag, beware.

I had 3 job offers and committed myself to join what i thought was a good institution. Knowing now what i need to deal with on a daily basis, even if they double my salary, had i known I will never join this group. Don't make the same mistake. Be careful. Before you make a commitment ask around.