Just curious....

How many provinces in Canada now require the baccalaureate as the entry level to nursing? How were educators able to reach consensus about this issue in those provinces? How has this affected your supply of nurses in Canada?

Thank you for any insight you can offer me :)

We are struggling with this issue (in sort of a convoluted way) here in North Carolina.

I'm not sure how many provinces it is now, but I know Ontario will have that requirement as of January 1, 2005. I think it will hurt quite a bit because of the expense of going to university for 4 years instead of college for 2.5-3 years. The community colleges are now going to have the program and grant a degree, but the tutition is the same as university. I was a RPN (LPN) who did a bridge program of 2 correspondence courses and then went to school for 13 months. This is no longer an option.

Thanks for your reply. What about the nurses who are already RN's and obtained their RN by an associate degree--are they grandfathered in or must they take extra courses to retain their "RN" status?

As far as I know they remain RN. BUT they are strongly encouraged to do their BScN. Posters all over the place about what's available at the local universities.

A friend just finished hers. She told me that she did it because she works in Public Health/Homecare and wanted to be able to advance. She felt it would become mandatory for RN's working Public Health to have a degree.

Thanks for your reply. What about the nurses who are already RN's and obtained their RN by an associate degree--are they grandfathered in or must they take extra courses to retain their "RN" status?

We remain RN's by being grandfathered. I believe that they will allow people who are college educated to come into Ontario and get their licence also.

I believe that they will allow people who are college educated to come into Ontario and get their licence also.

actually, the CNO still has not decided whether or not they will allow this... i graduated with a diploma and was originally licensed in Ontario... i moved to Alberta this year and when i called the CNO in May to see if i could be relicensed in the future, if i gave up my Ontario license while in Alberta, i was advised to keep up my membership because they didn't know if they would be allowing it... even if you were licensed in Ontario prior to 2005, that doesn't mean they would allow you to be relicensed...

of course, the CNO is kind of waffling on their January 2005 deadline now, because i think it's starting to dawn on them that a crunch will follow... in the last year, i've seen a lot of different literature on their site extended dates for diploma nurses to write in 2005...

Newfoundland's system seems a lot better... the only way to get RN training in Newfoundland is to go through their degree programs, but they do accept college trained nurses from other provinces...

That's correct Kudra. Newfoundland and Labrador changed their requirements for nurses. You used to be able to attend one of the hospital nursing schools such as St. Clare's, the Grace or the General and become an RN. Now if you wish to become a Nurse you have to go to Memorial University to earn a BSN or BScN in Nursing. They did keep the General site, you can go through the Center for Nursing Studies via Memorial for academic courses not available at CNS.

They don't have a bridge program for LPN's who wish to achieve their BSN. Too bad because that is what I wish to do.

i'm not sure what the rules are for registered nurses wishing to become registered in nova scotia, but i do know that the only way to obtain your RN status here now is to do a 4 year bacheolor degree. there are programs for rns to obtain their bachelors as well. but i don't know of any bridge programs between lpn and rn.

i'm not sure what the rules are for registered nurses wishing to become registered in nova scotia, but i do know that the only way to obtain your RN status here now is to do a 4 year bacheolor degree. there are programs for rns to obtain their bachelors as well. but i don't know of any bridge programs between lpn and rn.

How does this effect US RNs w/ADN coming into Canada hoping to find a job??

i'm not really sure. i was looking at the college of registered nurses for nova scotia, which is where we get our licences, but i had a difficult time finding that info. (i'm also trying to do it while at work which doesn't help! lol) their website is http://www.crnns.ca/

I think that you have to submit your education to the body that governs the province in which you wish to practice. They discern whether it fulfills the Canadian requirements, and if so you will be allowed to write the Canadian Registered Nurse exam. The exam is developed by the Canadian Nurses Association, but they leave it up to the provinces to ensure competency of foreign trained nurse.

Hope that helps.

You can visit the website at http://www.cna-nurses.ca