Best working conditions for English speaking nurses in Montreal?

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Hi there,

I am originally a nurse from the united states, a year ago I moved to Montreal where I work in one of the English operating hospitals. I have worked here for over a year a have had a bad experience. Don't get me wrong, the people I work with are amazing, it is true team work. But the working conditions are very bad compared to my other jobs I held in the States. Some of the issues: there is only one orderly for an entire unit, we usualy have to do everything ourselves; I am literally doing the job of a CNA and a nurse with a higher patient load. also, I only have half a break of what I'm entitled to get and it's so busy that we often have to work 30-45 minutes past our shift (we don't get payed for this time). Further we have to come in at least a half hour early (for free) just so that we can perform safe nursing care or otherwise I would leave even later. On top of this, we are literally running around the entire time, charting maybe consists of 30 minutes of the time. I have never worked as hard as this before. Many times when I come home my legs are swollen and I have ruptured blood vessels from being on my feet so intensely and so long. I was warned that Canadian nursing was not like the Sates. But maybe I'm just on a wrong unit or the wrong hospital?

I'm just curious about other people's experiences or maybe recommendations for other working situations here in Montreal for someone like me with very basic French.

Thanks!

Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Hello, I apologize for the late response. If you are already a licensed nurse in Canada all you need to do is register in the province of Quebec. I had to also take the french exam to be fully licensed because I did not study in french but if you are already licensed in another province you may not have to. Contact the licensing board and they will give you more information. Good luck to you

French is still a requirement regardless if registered with another province

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Basically the rule is that if you HAVE NOT completed your secondary studies, sometimes referred to "high school" IN Quebec ..... Then you must meet up with our friends at the OQLF for some exams :)))))

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Good for you!!

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Hi @adzem08! I am interested in moving to Montreal to work and work as a nurse. I was wondering what is the process from being an Ontario RN to work in Montreal. Also, what hospitals do you recommend looking into for an anglophone with intermediate level of french. Thank you for any insight.

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Hi nice post.. I'm in Montreal processing my oilq, may I know which province did you moved to? Thanks

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Well from the structure of your post, English isn't your first language.

Nursing positions in any metropolitan area are hard to find. From what you said in your previous post you don't have a full practice permit. So no movement across the nation isn't going to be easy.

Kindly read just4 post, she was able to move to other province without full time license.

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Hello ! I was wondering which is he beat hospital and units for anglophones in Montreal ? Also I'm moving from a different province so i was wondering what is the best way to start the work process . I am aware of the French exam but also the fact that I can start working with a temporary listence. Thank you

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On 1/21/2014 at 8:06 PM, just4 said:

Thank you for providing an alternative view. I did move from a medical unit to ICU and I found the working conditions much better. Part of the reason is because the ICU manager does an excellent job. However I also found myself frustrated by many things in Quebec such as the refusal to grant me a full license until I passed the French test. I felt I could do better. I moved to another province where my Quebec conditional license was quickly converted to a full, unrestricted license. I also found myself with substantially higher pay with lots of overtime opportunities at double the pay (I was only getting 1.5X in Montreal), much better benefits which include an incredible pension plan, and lower taxes. My current employer also paid for 6 months of specialized full time ICU education where not only were all of my educational expenses paid, but I continued to draw my regular nursing salary while in school. Soon I will be entering a brand new ICU unit with the latest technology and supposedly one of the largest in Canada. I am not saying that everyone wil get all of what I have been able to get in the last couple of years. However my advice to those planning to relocate is to shop around and, before moving to Montreal/Quebec, look and compare other job opportunities. The rest of the country is totally anglophone and many places will appreciate your nursing skills without forcing French on you.

Hey @just4 I know you haven't logged in since 2014 but I was really hoping to get some info from you. I'm interested in working in or near Montreal as well, and in one of your posts you mentioned finally finding a job outside of the province which treated you very well. Would you mind sharing which hospital that is?

Thank you!

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On 8/7/2012 at 11:26 PM, blue-sky said:

Hi there,

I am originally a nurse from the united states, a year ago I moved to Montreal where I work in one of the English operating hospitals. I have worked here for over a year a have had a bad experience. Don't get me wrong, the people I work with are amazing, it is true team work. But the working conditions are very bad compared to my other jobs I held in the States. Some of the issues: there is only one orderly for an entire unit, we usualy have to do everything ourselves; I am literally doing the job of a CNA and a nurse with a higher patient load. also, I only have half a break of what I'm entitled to get and it's so busy that we often have to work 30-45 minutes past our shift (we don't get payed for this time). Further we have to come in at least a half hour early (for free) just so that we can perform safe nursing care or otherwise I would leave even later. On top of this, we are literally running around the entire time, charting maybe consists of 30 minutes of the time. I have never worked as hard as this before. Many times when I come home my legs are swollen and I have ruptured blood vessels from being on my feet so intensely and so long. I was warned that Canadian nursing was not like the Sates. But maybe I'm just on a wrong unit or the wrong hospital?

I'm just curious about other people's experiences or maybe recommendations for other working situations here in Montreal for someone like me with very basic French.

Thanks!

Sounds like where I used to work for 5 years in British Columbia. Hope the OP found a better place to work

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On 12/17/2014 at 5:00 PM, tosca rose said:

Kindly read just4 post, she was able to move to other province without full time license.

Well, if you read my post correctly, I wasn’t responding to the OP.

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