confused-What to do???

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Hi Friends,

I will be moving in April to Toronto on PR visa as an immigrant.

1-Is there any province where I can get work without going thru the exams and licensing procedures?

2-I am a diploma registered nurse from India, please advice-

*What nursing specialization course shall i take up to add in to my qualification which will be recognised in US as well and from which university in canada?

3-As BC is the only province which accepts diploma nurses till date for RN registration So--I would be seeing BC to settle down.

4-As I m moving as an immigrant --will I have to appear for english exam again for nursing registration???

My previous IELTS scores are expired now.

5-I am disappointed by reading negative experiences/ articles,on different sites about the job conditions in canada.

I did not hear such things few years before when i applied for immigration But now many are around-Whats the truth Any one living in Canada ,please comment.

I am really confused and worried -what job I will be getting till i m registered as an RN-which will take a lot time as i have not started the procedure as of yet.

Thanks in advance.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.
hi friends,

i will be moving in april to toronto on pr visa as an immigrant.

1-is there any province where i can get work without going thru the exams and licensing procedures?

no, there isn't. you have no choice but to write the crne and obtain a canadian permit to practice in the province where you want to work if you want to work as a registered nurse.

2-i am a diploma registered nurse from india, please advice-

*what nursing specialization course shall i take up to add in to my qualification which will be recognised in us as well and from which university in canada?

that isn't a question anyone here can answer. you need to have an assessment from the province you plan to register in (ontario, if you're going to live in toronto) and you may find that your education credentials aren't sufficient for canadian requirements so you'd have to upgrade. that would be where you have to start. you won't be able to take any kind of post-basic specialty course at a canadian university without being registered as a nurse already. registration is a prerequisite.

3-as bc is the only province which accepts diploma nurses till date for rn registration so--i would be seeing bc to settle down.

alberta is still accepting the diploma until 2009.

4-as i m moving as an immigrant --will i have to appear for english exam again for nursing registration???

my previous ielts scores are expired now.

probably.

5-i am disappointed by reading negative experiences/ articles,on different sites about the job conditions in canada.

i did not hear such things few years before when i applied for immigration but now many are around-whats the truth any one living in canada ,please comment.

what exactly are you asking about? working conditions have become difficult due to the shortage of working nurses; overtime is very common, and some places have mandatory overtime. budget cuts mean using old and often unreliable equipment, working in space that is overcrowded and not very clean, not having enough clean linen for the patients, running out of supplies on weekends because no one restocks, high acuity patients and high nurse-to-patient ratios... pressure to take "just one more" patient into your already bursting-at-the-seams unit... inflexible management and punitive attendance programs... there are lots of things that aren't very nice about working as a nurse these days.

i am really confused and worried -what job i will be getting till i m registered as an rn-which will take a lot time as i have not started the procedure as of yet.

you won't be able to work as a nurse without a permit to practice, that's for sure. it will take several months at the very least to satisfy all the requirements, even if all your documentation meets the standard. you may need to take work as a nurse's aide, which won't pay very well.

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Hi flyinghigh!

Dont expect getting any kind of work in the hospital as a nurse before you have done your RN-exam. I got one chance to an interview before my exam but they really want to have the passed result first in the RN exam before hiring you. Mostly hospitals ingnore you if you dont have the exam done yet, at least that is my experience here in Ontario.

However you can get work in a nursinghome or similar. I have a job already in a retirementhome even Im not yet registered, I also didnt need temp. registration there because of the nature of the work.

You should start immediately you registeration process. All wheels of byrocracy work very slowly here in Canada so it takes time before they have processed all your papers! For me it took about 5months! But then I had not my original papers in english so it took time for them to translate them too. Then another thing: there is only possibility to do RN-exam 3 times a year because they are not arranged more often than that. And you have to apply for them in good time!

When you enter into Canada make sure you have healthinsurance for yourself, and apply for OHIP (Healthcare coverage) right away because it takes 3 months to get it. You also need SIN, ID-number to start working. You can get it at once if you apply for it in person in the office, it takes longer time if you apply for it by mail.

Good luck to your immigration! I hope you like it here :)

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Hi flyinghigh!

Dont expect getting any kind of work in the hospital as a nurse before you have done your RN-exam. I got one chance to an interview before my exam but they really want to have the passed result first in the RN exam before hiring you. Mostly hospitals ingnore you if you dont have the exam done yet, at least that is my experience here in Ontario.

However you can get work in a nursinghome or similar. I have a job already in a retirementhome even Im not yet registered, I also didnt need temp. registration there because of the nature of the work.

You should start immediately you registeration process. All wheels of byrocracy work very slowly here in Canada so it takes time before they have processed all your papers! For me it took about 5months! But then I had not my original papers in english so it took time for them to translate them too. Then another thing: there is only possibility to do RN-exam 3 times a year because they are not arranged more often than that. And you have to apply for them in good time!

When you enter into Canada make sure you have healthinsurance for yourself, and apply for OHIP (Healthcare coverage) right away because it takes 3 months to get it. You also need SIN, ID-number to start working. You can get it at once if you apply for it in person in the office, it takes longer time if you apply for it by mail.

Good luck to your immigration! I hope you like it here :)

Sorry, but working in the role of an RN without any type of licensure in Canada makes you subject to a large fine and even jail time. Passing of medications or doing assessments requires licensure. It is considered working without a license to do so.

Just because the nursing home tells you that it is fine to do, do not take their word for it. You can have criminal charges brought up against you and that would be the end of your nursing career ever there, or in any other country.

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No nursing home/ltc facility will tell anyone to work as a nurse without being able to produce a licence.

You would be employed as care aide in long term care.

Like any other immigrant who needs to have credentials evaluated, you will just have to take whatever work you can find.

Cold, hard truth. Immigration isn't easy and I'm speaking from experience.

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Same way that we see contracts for auxillary nurses, there is no such thing in Canada. the nurse will be working as a nursing asst and that only.

Without a valid license in the province where you wish to work, you cannot work in the role of the RN. Graduate nurses still need to be working under the license of an RN.

And no matter what any nursing home tells you or any other facility, if they try to put you in any other role that is not the nursing asst, you risk never being able to work in Canada as an RN.

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Specializes in med/surg.

I don't know what it is some of you are expecting??

If you want to nurse in another country I can't understand for the life of me why you expect to be handed everything on a plate?

I expect any country I want to go to to check my credentials out thoroughly. I have no problem with the notion that my intended new country should expect me to have passed their examinations before being allowed to fully practice there. I know I'm a good nurse & I always do my job to the very best of my abilities but they don't know that do they?

Most of all I expect to go there totally legally & not to try & circum-navigate their proper immigration systems - whatever they might be & however long they take!!

I'm sorry if you don't agree but I think it had to be said!! I'm fed up of reading questions from nurses trying to get round systems put in place for the safety of patients.

I'm a foreign nurse, in the same boat as many of you - caught in retrogression so have chosen Canada instead but not once would I dream of expecting Canada or the USA to change it's policies to suit me. It's their country & it's up to me to fulfil their criteria, period!!

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