Marmaladey

Hello everyone, I'm interested in doing a seasonal nursing assignment in the sunshine state next winter and would like to hear some of your experiences of the facilities you did your time at and just some solid advice. I'm considering going to either the Tampa area (looking at Baycare in particular) or Fort Myers area(looking at Lee Health). I have about two years experience as an RN but worked as an LPN/RPN for a couple of years. Thanks!

I did the SSN application the same date I got my TN Visa. I went to the US Social Security Administration office close to my workplace. I brought my passport which had my TN Visa stapled inside. Filled out some paperwork and that was that. It took 4-5 weeks to receive my SSN in the mail. Since you're gonna be working in Florida it would be best getting your SSN at a local US Social Security Administration office in Florida.

Okay so in order to obtain the TN Visa you need the following items: -Your Bachelor's Degree -Visa Screen -US State License -Passport or Nexus Card -TN Petition Job letter from your employer indicating your job description, salary, length of employment and info about the hospital itself. Your TN is valid for 3 years. Your recruiter will give you this. -$56 USD cash to purchase the TN but I brought $60 USD cash to be on the safe side. I got my TN Visa at the border crossing. You can only get your TN Visa no more than 2 weeks to your start date. You either get it at the border crossing or designated airports (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary I've heard issues TN Visas). Now depending on the state you're getting your nursing license you may need a SSN prior to getting your license. The state I applied didn't require a SSN. I'm not sure how Florida works so you would need to contact the Florida BON. Now with getting your Visa Screen you need to go with CFGNS. You would need to pay $540 USD for this. You need these documents: -Valid Picture of yourself you can upload this on the website -High School Diploma you can scan or send them a copy. I lost my diploma so I had to have the school board send my transcript on my behalf. I had FedEx send my documents to them. Now if you graduated high school more than 10 years ago you don't need to do this and will be exempt. -University Transcript Validation- Your school has to send it on your behalf however with my school I had to send them a summary of my clinicals and what I did. It took my school 6 weeks to send my credentials. -Verification of Nursing license: Have the nursing board of your province send a verification of nursing license and with they will send your NCLEX Score. I'm licensed in Ontario and they are notorious for being slow so this took 6 weeks to be processed. -I went to school in Ontario so I got exempt from writing the English exam. When CGFNS receives your documents it takes an additional 15-20 business days to process your documents as received. Once you get your TN visa you can apply and get your SSN. It's a long tedious process. Give yourself 4-6 months to get your Visa Screen. State license it took me 2 months. Feel free to ask me any questions.

Awesome lucky you. I didn't get a relocation bonus with the hospital I'm at but they do offer loan forgiveness for my student loans and they did reimbursed me for obtaining my State license. I'm envious that you got your position in Florida. Only thing I'll mention is going through CGFNS is a pain it took me 4 months to obtain my VisaScreen. So in the meanwhile I worked part-time at the hospital. Make sure to courier your stuff with CGFNS. Also I'm not sure what province you're with but with Ontario it took them forever to send my verification of nursing license(6 weeks). Just always keep in contact with your recruiter regarding this. Otherwise best of luck!

I'm a Canadian nurse with less than 1 year experience who's in a nurse residency program in a hospital in the USA. I would take the career opportunity honestly. Its hard getting a new grad initiative program in Ontario I'd take advantage and work there plus in the USA depending on the hospital you work for they can pay for your tuition if you are interested in furthering your education and you're not gonna find that in any hospital in Canada. I worked a few months at the hospital in Ontario before taking the new grad position in the USA. Congrats on getting the job.

I'll be honest it's gonna take a couple of months to have your credentials edited from CGFNS. It took me 4 months to get my Visa Screen but there are US hospitals willing to take Canadian new grads matter of fact I got a new grad position at the hospital I currently work as I had less than 1 year experience as an RN. My training is for 2.5 months. I'd look for new grad positions and be flexible with moving far away. Just my two cents...

Hi Ryan, I recently started working in the USA and I'm a Canadian nurse. One thing I noticed about the USA is a lot of hospitals here aren't unionized and many of the nurses I've interacted with are anti-union and thinks unions protect lazy, incompetent co-workers. 1. One thing I like about the USA in comparison to Canada is that hospitals offer tuition reimbursement and loan forgiveness. The hospitals here offer a lot of nurse residency programs for new nurses (I'm currently enrolled with one in the hospital I work at). In Ontario I found it a challenge getting the into the new graduate initiative. My hospital orientation in the USA on the floor is 2.5 months, the hospital I worked in my hometown in Ontario was 10 shifts on the floor. In the USA you have PCT who are PSWs essentially and at the hospital I work at they do vital signs, bladder scans and can discontinue foleys and IVs on top of doing bedside care. In terms of ratios I have 4-5 patients on nights in the USA while in Canada I had up to 8 patients on nights. In the USA you have the opportunity to self-schedule and pick what shifts you want to work as full time. Where I worked in Ontario not so much for full time. However I want to mention in the USA if they are low census you can have your shift cancelled and be sent home. In terms of breaks, I tend to find in the USA where I work nurses only take 1 hour breaks for 12.5 hour shifts while in Canada especially nights nurses take 2 hour breaks. This is just my observations. The pros working in Canada you are unionized and everyone gets paid the same doesn't matter if you're in medical-surgical or the ICU and our health care. The cons especially in Ontario it's very tough finding full time positions. The pros working in the USA is a lot of hospitals give you tuition reimbursement to further your education and get your Masters and become an NP or CRNA. I find the training in the USA is long and thorough. Cons of the USA most places are not unionized and you can be let go for anything really. I feel like I have to kiss up more to patients here in the USA. Just my personal opinion. 2. I haven't worked in the USA long so I can't give any info how taxes would work given the fact I live in Canada. 3. Some hospitals do. One hospital I interviewed for in the Southern States offer to give $5k sign on bonus for 2 year contract. It really depends on each individual hospital. One of my friend's was offered a 20k sign on bonus for a hospital in South Texas. 4. I haven't moved to the USA I live in a border town and commute but I suppose if you wanted to be closer to work then it wouldn't be a bad idea living in the USA. I hope I answered most of your questions. I apologize in advance of any spelling/grammatical errors. Best of luck!