Please, need specifics to be RN in Montreal!

[shurchik]

Hi, everybody!

I'm new to this wonderful forum. I'd like to begin my first post with expressing my gratitude and admiration to everyone who's shared their opinions and expertise here!

Presently, I have two specific questions. First, my situation: I'm a newly licensed RN in Boston, Mass. with no RN-work experience in US or Canada. I've a nursing diploma and 2,5 years of work experience from Russia. I need to get an RN job in Montreal, Quebec. Right now I'm actively involved in the process of: a) getting a job offer from a Montreal hospital; b) applying for a Canadian work permit; c) applying to the Order of Nurses in Quebec (OIIQ).

Questions:

1) Application process to OIIQ: could someone who's already went through it possibly give me a brief step-by-step description of this process and how long each step takes? I don't mean the requirements, fees, exams, etc. - they're outlined on OIIQ's website. What I'm talking about is what forms they send, what docs they request, how long they process your application, do they ask for everything at the beginning, or they have a time-frame for each mailing, etc. I'm particularly interested in how they check the equivalence of your nursing education. See, mine is from 3 different schools. 2 of those are in US, and I don't see any problems with them. But I received most of my nursing schooling and work experience in Russia, and I'm very interested to know how OIIQ is going to check those. Do they match the info in your application with their database? Or, do they expect you to provide some official letters from all your schools with your application? Or - the worst scenario - do they contact your school directly and expect them to answer by fax or mail directly back to OIIQ? See, recently I had to go through that last situation with CGFNS before I received my US RN license, and it turned into a year of bureaucratic hell because the Russian side kept ignoring official requests from the American organization. God, I really don't want to go through that again. Please, tell me what's the process like?

2) Do you have any advice about any of the English-speaking hospitals in Montreal? My everyday French is OK and is getting better, but my medical French is non-existent, and I dread the thought of having to work in a French-speaking medical environment (I'm currently watching "ER" with French subtitles - nothing's the same!). OIIQ told me that since I have 4 years of college French education I may be exempt from their French test - whew!

So, what's the best place where a trilingual young nurse with a US RN license but no US or Canadian experience would receive the most support, guidance, and professional growth opportunities? I got a list of all English-speaking hospitals in MTL. I've been checking them on the Web (whatever little info is there), and so far, Jewish General Hospital has appealed to me the most. What's your opinion? And how should I approach the hospital where I'd like to work? I understand it's similar to the US hospitals. But here in US I'm a citizen and a more or less confident licensed RN. In Quebec, I'll be a scared, wide-eyed CPNP with a work permit for quite some time. So, which employer, do you think, would be most tolerant and supportive of that?

Any advice and additional info is much appreciated!

And good luck to all of you in all your endeavors! :w00t:

[jessca88]

hi nicole.

im sorry for the very late reply. i mailed a letter last may 11 to the registrar's office regarding on the OIIQ permit and they answered my letter just yesterday. i wasn;t able to read it yet co, the address i gave them was my aunt's address i haven't got the letter but my aunt told me that they got it already. i didn't give them my address because on july we're moving to pointe claire. anyway, for me to able to become a nurse here in montreal, do i have to take an exam, just like in the phils?:)

i hope you'll answer my query.. goodluck to us.:)

[Fiona59]

All the steps to obtaining a practice permit are outlined in previous posts.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Not only will you need to write a licensing exam, but you'll also need to undergo French language testing similar to the IELTS, but in French.

[angel_pet]

What's the French exam like?

[laurasc]

I left the French in and translated it for those who don't know any French... for the reasons Fiona59 has pointed out and because it is connected to the topic at hand. Nurses in Quebec, where Montreal is, have to pass a very difficult French exam in order to maintain their registration.

Very difficult is an understatement! I grew up in Montreal and am bilingual. I did the French test 25 years ago when I graduated from nursing and it was really, really easy, passsed it with flying colours. That was then .....today the test is horribly difficult. I've heard that some French speaking nurses are having trouble passing. You not only have to be able to speak and read French, but you have to be able to document in it. You're given an essay to write, often with nothing to do with nursing and you have to get at least a 60% to pass. If I had to write the exam today I would most definately not pass the written part of it....even though I am fully capable of working in French now.

The really sad part is that by doing that, the Quebec order of nurses and the French language department here in Quebec (affectionately (!!) called the "Tongue Troopers") are shooting our health care system here in the foot. A lot of functionally bilingual nurses are being refused their permit to practice.

It's really too bad.

[angel_pet]

Soooo, I'm going into my last year nursing, and I also have to do the OLF. Is this going to be an impossible task? Will I have wasted three years of my life because the OLF Exam is too difficult to pass?

I'm scared! I'm doing so well in nursing, what if it's all for nothing! Should I take a year off to focus on French?

[laurasc]

I'm scared! I'm doing so well in nursing, what if it's all for nothing! Should I take a year off to focus on French?

You haven't wasted anything. Try the exam. They give you a couple of chances to pass it, so if you fail it the first time, you'll at least know what you're dealing with....and...you can continue to work while you wait to pass your exam.

Just don't give up on it.

Laura

[hyamanaka]

Hi all,

I graduated form McGill last year from my nursing program and then successfully passed the OIIQ exam in the fall of 2009. I had started working as a CPNP even before writing and passing the licensing exam; however, I currently remain a CPNP because I have not yet passed the OLF language exam. I have attempted it once and passed half the section; I am still waiting for my second exam date (you must wait a minimum of three months between attempts.)

My question is: does anyone know how long I can continue working as a CPNP having passed the OIIQ exam but awaiting the OLF? how many attempts at the OLF exam can I make? I know people have three attempts at the OIIQ exam before being 'rejected' by what about the language exam?

thanks,

H

[miasat]

an acquaintance of mine in st. mary's had been telling me to apply there.. she said i wouldn't have to worry about french because i'll be learning as i'll work there.. but how could i not worry if my license depends on that.. :) so, good luck then.. update me soon on how your work goes.. i hope all goes well for all of us.. oh, and what part of montreal are you from?

don't worry about the french exam yet -- get your nursing registration with the OIIQ done, so you can write the exam, then pass - worry about the french later. Hospitals in montreal are mostly bilingual, and language shouldn't be too much of a problem while you wait to have your documents validated by the oiiq. I havent taken the qubec nursing exam yet, but believe me, when i saw the study guide of the oiiq, i found it to be entirely different from the nclex or the phils board - I passed both exams, but still very anxious about the quebec exam. I'm totally setting aside the french exam for now, and i suggest you do too in the meantime :)

although i do try to convince myself that it's the best motivation to learn a new language.

worst case scenario, once we pass (hopefully) the quebec nursing exam, it is recognized in most, if not all, provinces in canada. if we find french too hard a language to master, we can both move out and join the exodus of nurses leaving the province. which is of course, a shame, because montreal is a great place to live, ayt? :)

i live in the CDN area, by the way.

[wantingtomove10]

This is very disappointing. I am hoping to move to Montreal but I don't feel I should have to sacrifice over 10 dollars an hour (or over $22,000 a year) to be working under someone's supervision?? At that rate, I may as well forget being a RN and just be a medical or nursing assistant or wait tables.

Does anyone know of any other areas that a nurse could work in Montreal that pays well? Are there any travel nursing agencies that pay better and would make the process any faster/easier?

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Quebec has the lowest pay scale of all the provinces for nurses, both union and non-union. It also has the highest taxation rates.

Travel nursing isn't a Canadian phenomenon. Our annual registration fees are extremely high and it isn't attractive to many people to be paying them for several provinces at a time. And each province will have to assess applicants' education before registering applicants, a lengthy process no matter where one goes. And there is no way to speed any of it up, no agency that will smooth out the bumps or clear the tracks. Sad to say, it is what it is.

[yoopian]

hi nicole and jess. im in montreal too, and it took me around 4-5 months to get the final verdict from the oiiq. submitted all the requirements sometime in january, hand delivered all the documents to the office (yes, quite an advanage if you live in the area), and voila, they released the decision late march. i'm to do a 40-day professional integration training. had to apply on my own, bottomline is that i had to find a hospital who would accept me as trainee. see, i got no hospital experience, fresh graduate from a phils. nursing school. but i did pass the local board there in 2008. i applied in the mcgill network of hospitals here, but no-can-do, not without the french, and not without the experience.

so, holler if you got any questions, because im learning things as i go along.

Hello MiaSAT!

I was just wondering how may years of nursing experience do they require in Quebec for a foreign graduate to even apply to practice nursing? I'm currently here in the Philippines and have been practicing for about a year (I passed the NLE last June 2009). I'm planning to start filing my application next month and apply as a permanent worker and I was just wondering if you guys have specifics on that. Thanks a lot and good luck on your exams!