Inquiry regarding to work in Canada

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Hi, I have already obtained a Bachelor of Nursing Degree outside of my home country (in South-East Asia so not in the state or Canada) & after I graduated I went back to take local nursing license but unfortunately I didn't get it so I didn't have a real working experience in the hospital only during my school training and also at the dental clinic & baby day care center after I graduated. In between, I also changed to work in a different job industry so it's been a while since I've been involved in nursing. Nevertheless, I still have passion in it and want to pursue my nursing career. I'm now in Canada and would like to be an RN here. I understand that according to my weak background I need to go back to school, however, the school fee is expensive so I would like to work & save up first. I want to work in the hospital so I can learn more skills but I have couple questions:

1) Can I work as a nursing aid in the hospital?

2) Can I apply NNAS or NNAS are for those IENs who already has a local license to take exams or to work in Canada?

3) what kind of work can I do if i want to work in a health care/hospital? and if I obtain a standard CPR-HCP certificate, what related health care sector can I work at?

4) Are there any certificate I could get that would help me to atleast work in the hospital environment?

Please give me some guidance, Thank you.

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Which Canadian province do you live in? how many years has it been since you completed your nursing degree? Most provinces require you show proof of recent practice or school within 5 years but Ontario requires proof within 3 years.

You might be able to obtain a job as a health care aide, there is a lot of competition for jobs in hospitals and long term care facilities, submit your resume and see what happens.

I think you can apply to NNAS even though you do not have a license in your country of education, you can call NNAS and clarify.

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Thank you dishes for you reply

I'm now living in Vancouver and It's been 6 years since I had completed my nursing degree. I'll try to submit my resume in health care aide job if not then I'll go for my plan B. Thanks

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You are right that you will need education since it has been 6 years since you completed your nursing degree. Submit your application to NNAS first, than after you have your advisory report apply to CRNBC, they will advise you whether you can take an IEN bridging program. It is less expensive to take a bridging program than to re-take a 4 year degree. If you can find a healthcare related job or some type of work that is unionized and pays more than minimum wage, it will help you to financially support yourself while you work towards your goal.

Suggest you make a budget and figure out the potential costs for all of your assessments, NNAS, application to CRNBC, ncas.bc,CELBAN, bridging program,NCLEX. If you need to take out a loan, look into the loans available through immigrant access fund (iafcanada.org). Also, check into the scholarships for internationally educated nurse available through the Canadian Nurses Foundation.

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Thank you so much for you advice, this is really helpful. Now I have a clear understanding on proceeding my nursing path :)

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If you are interested in reading some IENs experiences with the licensing process in Canada, you can use the search tool in the top right hand corner of AN, search for the threads entitled 'NNAS experience' and 'CRNBC-Indian graduate got license'.

If you become aware of all of the potential challenges you may encounter during your journey to become a RN in Canada, you will be better able to deal with them.

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ok I will take a look both , thank you again dishes for answering my questions :)

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