NZ -> Alberta

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Hi all,

I was wondering about the likelihood of being able to go straight into nursing in the Calgary area after finishing my Bachelor of Nursing (3yrs) and being registered over here.

My fiance's brother and his Canadian wife were suggesting that we move over when we're married, saying that the job market is very good over there at the moment. I'm currently just trying to get an idea of the possible difficulties with doing that - cost of living, ease of getting a job, eligibility for healthcare and maternity leave should we be so blessed while we're over there. If anyone has any information, that would be great. I'm a British citizen and we'd be looking at staying for about a year.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

A year won't be a very long time in the bigger scheme of things. There are a lot of hoops you'll have to jump through before you can get into a job here. The CARNA website has a lot of good information about requirements and the process.

http://www.nurses.ab.ca/registration/Educated%20outside%20Canada.html

I've heard from many others that there is a lot of hassle, time and money consumed by the process, even for people coming from the US, our largest trading partner with whom we have a trade agreement that covers portability of employment! I'd recommend that if you're serious, you start the paperwork now. You might want to contact the Calgary Health Region recruiter for help. they have tons of vacancies, so finding a job will be the easy part.

http://www.calgaryhealthregion.ca/employment/workingwyou.htm

The cost of living in Calgary is fairly high, but not undoable. Housing is at a premium, though, since Calgary went through a huge boom and the new housing starts didn't keep pace with growth. Eligibility for health care kicks in 90 days after taking up residency. Premiums are $1056 per year for a family.

Good luck.

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Specializes in ICU, med/surg.

Yes, there is a HUGE demand for nurses here. There won't be any problem finding a job. I know that the Calgary Health Region welcomes foreign nurses with open arms. In fact, they have a team of recruiters that travels the world trying to get nurses to come work here.

As stated by janfrn, the paperwork will probably be a nightmare...but that's fairly common when going to any new country to work.

Hope to see you here soon!

Sean

P.S. I work on a great unit! Come work with us! :)

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Specializes in General Surgery/Surgical Oncology.

Unfortunately, although we are desperate for nurses, the nursing colleges make it quite difficult for foreign-trained nurses to work here as RNs.

A friend of mine, trained in Finland, came over here in the Fall after working as an RN in the UK and Australia, and is still waiting for permission to work as an RN.

I am afraid a year will probably not be long enough, unless you start your paperwork long before you arrive! You would have no trouble finding an employer, but you will have a long wait (and plenty of hoop-jumping) ahead of you if you want to be recognized as an RN.

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Thanks for the replies. Food for thought.

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Specializes in Psych, Informatics, Biostatistics.

Just on the UNAA site and don't see a contract since 2005. What's up with that?

I am viewing the Calgary Health Authority's need for an instructor for their MIS department.

Look's appealing to me, if I could find the salary range.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

Actually the last contract was ratified in 2004. It was for a two year term, then extended by another year to March 31 of this year. The extension included a 3% wage increase across the board. There's a thread on this board about our current negotiations, https://allnurses.com/forums/f108/una-negs-216969.html that you might find interesting. I can flesh out the details for you, but not right this minute.

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hi my name is Tina, I am a registerd nurse at neuro ICU for 2 years in india. I am about to get my assessment done at CARNA. I would like to know what are my chances of finding an employment in calgary health region once i recieve the letter of eligibilty.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

Calgary Health Region is desperate for nurses, so I'd say your chances would be good, once you've gotten CARNA's blessing.

The nursing job board is crammed with vacancies. http://www.calgaryhealthregion.ca/supp/hr/employ/Nursing_title.htm

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Thanks Janfrn,

I would like to know when CARNA do assement. What is it usually based on? Do they check the experince? I only have 2 years experince in ICU department so i am not too sure if that would consider to be good experince by CARNA.Does anybody know if ICU nurses are high in demand?

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

For information about registering as an internationally educated nurse in Alberta, please see the links at: http://nurses.ab.ca/Carna/index.aspx?WebStructureID=1277.

ICU nurses are in demand, but it seems more med-surg vacancies are available right now, where things are quite desperate.

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Hi, I would like to know how long does CARNA usually take to process temporary registration cases.

Thank you

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