jaylily

NB is hiring new grads, especially Saint John and Moncton.

When reps from my provincial nursing association came to speak to my grad class in the fall, they said the June 2010 exam will consist of only multiple choice questions and will be just half a day long as opposed to a full day.

I left a professional career to pursue nursing and know I made the right decision. I had 7 years university and 5 years experience in my previous career and dreaded each and every day I went to work. It was making me a miserable person. I explored my options by working in different sectors and different countries, but realised it just wasn't the career for me. I had always been interested in health care and decided to pursue nursing. I'm just finishing up my degree now, so it's just early for me, but I know I made the right decision. I'm preceptoring in emergency and couldn't be happier, I absolutely love emergency nursing. I actually look forward to going in and enjoy what I do when I'm there. I love how any day there can turn at the drop of a hat; there are times when it's slow and quiet, but the next thing you know a stage 3 trauma is coming in. It's exciting at times and tragic at others, but what's most important for me is that I actually CARE about the work I'm doing there. In my other career, the only emotion I felt was dread. There are certainly aspects of nursing that I dislike, but it is a profession far better suited to my personality. So my advice is go for it. There are 2 year degree programs that are perfect to get you immediately immersed in it. If you try it and find that it's not what you expected, then you've always got your idea for a small practice to fall back on. But believe me, when you find a job that you love - it's amazing!

I'm in NB but the exam is the same across the country. There will be less questions on the June 2010 exam than there are currently and the exam will be for one day, in the morning only.

when reps from my provincial nursing association came to speak to my class, they said the June 2010 exam will be only multiple choice questions and will only be a half-day exam as opposed to the current full-day exam.

As with any advanced standing/fast track nursing program, it's pretty competitive to get into. They say a minimum of 3.0 on their website. http://www.unbf.ca/nursing/undergraduate/bnasp/bnaspentrance.html I don't know what my gpa was when I was accepted, but it was around the mid 3's. I'm currently in the ASP program and honestly do not recommend it. The disorganisation of the program is hideous. If you're from the area and it's more convenient for you to go to UNB, then by all means do it, it's a means to an end. But if you're able to study nursing elsewhere, do it.

I'm from Alberta but am doing my BN degree in a different province. I've just been placed on a waiting list so that if things change and the AHS decides to hire new nurses I'll be contacted. I would love to return home, but to be honest, even if things did change there and they started to hire new employees, I can't say I'd be too tempted to do it. There's just too much insecurity with what Duckett's doing right now. Do they have a plan as to what they'll be doing once the new hospital opens in the south? Especially seeing as how they just closed 350 beds?

I'm currently a 4th year student at UNB and would not recommend it. There are a few stellar faculty members who are both brilliant nurses and instructors, but the faculty as a whole is very unorganized. As with many nursing schools they have difficulty finding clinical instructors. Because of this I have had a rotation on the same unit twice. We do not have rotations in the ER, OR, CCU or ICU, instead we have "observation days", and even that is only the luck of the draw. Students are chosen at random to have one obersvation day in various specialty units, you cannot request a unit that you may be interested in. The only exception is OR, every student receives at least one full observation day in the OR. Also, due to the lack of instructors and smal size of the hospital, you are also not guaranteed a pediatric rotation either, again this comes down to luck. The school is very focused on community health nursing, which might be good if that's what you're interested in. As for the high grades of the students, I would say this is due to the low bar that is set by UNB. An A+ is 90-100, A is 85-89. It is not overly difficult to get an A or A+ in any of the nursing courses. On the plus side, due to the grading system I have received multiple scholarships. They teach the information and skills you need to know, but they really fall short on the availability of clinical experience. I've been told that the St.John campus of UNB has better clinical experiences due to the larger size of the hospital. UNB is not a nursing school that I would recommend to anyone.

I'm graduating with my BN in December and was just having a look through the AHS job postings. All of the RN positions I saw in Calgary were limited to "qualified internal Alberta Health Services candidates only". Does Duck-it think this will convince people there isn't a hiring freeze? Sure, job postings are going online again, but they're for internal applicants only, meaning an RN will leave one short-staffed unit for another. I was looking forward to returning home to Calgary to work, but it looks like I'll have to go elsewhere now.

If you really want to go back to school, how about instead of getting the same degree twice, you got a MSN?

You'll be in no shortage of curry in Edmonton http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&oe=utf8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=edmonton+indian+food&fb=1&split=1&sa=X&oi=local_group&resnum=1&ct=image of all those restaurants, I've only been to Haweli, but it's good. Since you say you're going to Edmonton, if I were you, the one big thing I'd miss is warm weather!

You could try contacting this agency http://www.continentaltravelnurse.com/ If you do contact them, let me know how it works out because I'm hoping to return to the UK after I graduate this year (from Canada) as well and was thinking of contacting them.

Surrey can be quite rough in some areas, and because Abbotsford is more rural and a little further away from Vancouver, living expenses will be cheaper, traffic better, etc. If I were you, I'd choose the job you think is best suited for you, because regardless of the job's location, you can always commute.

If you go to this page on the UofC website and click on any class, it will have a run-down of their marking system. A+ = 98% and up, A = 93-97.9 93-http://www.ucalgary.ca/nu/node/278

I lived in NS for 7 years and would be happy answer any questions you may have about where to live, etc. Especially if you're thinking the Halifax area, there are good/bad places just like any other city. But yes, even by Canadian standards property is ridiculously cheap in Nova Scotia.