Calling BC & ALB nurses -advice please!!!

[FIFOH]

Hi

I'm an Australian trained critical care nurse looking at moving to Canada next year (I have Canadian citizenship from birth) and would love any advise and info from any RNs over there. I'm sure it all works very differently so to start the ball rolling here are a few questions:

1. Do nurses work under a labour agreement or on individual contracts?

2. I understand there are penalty rates? Eg extra $ for certain shifts. ... holidays, weekends etc.... what are the %s extra etc?

3. Do public health jobs do panel interviews? What does the process of getting a job there entail?

4. How does critical care/icu work? I've heard there are separate jobs/people for ventilation, inotropes, sedation...is this right? Here we do it all. ... how many patients per nurse?

5. Is the job doing full cares or are there nursing assistants?

6. Is it team nursing or individual?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Fi

[Fiona59]

Depends on the hospital. Yes there are unions, yes there are differentials.

Are there jobs? Depends on where you go.

[dayandnight]

1. there is a union. non unionized places tend to be private long term care places or home care

2. differentials exist but hearing form an Australian nurse, you guys have it better paid over there in terms of this

3. panel? never had one. Just a regular submit resumes, wait and do interviews

4. depends on the province. You usually have to do a province-specific icu education prior to getting a job, or get sponsored by the unit and do the education (which you usually pay out of pocket)

5. there are barely any nursing assistants. You mostly do the care of your patients

[FIFOH]

Thank you so much for the time you took to answer my questions companisbiki. Much appreciated.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

We do panel interviews where I work and I've known of other colleagues who had panels. Be prepared, as they are a possibility.

Also, seniority rules. Internal applicants are given priority but if you have a recognized specialty, you may have more luck being selected for interviews. Your foreign credentials will be assessed by the Province you are applying for registration.