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Thanks alot Loriangel14, i am a little relieved that its possible, nursing looks more like my calling now. When u said that u pick up enough shifts, do u mean that u pick up enough shift that your basically working full time hours with part time benefits within the same one employer?

Hi fellow nurses, I have almost decided on going into nursing after a career change but there is only one thing that is preventing me from taking the leap. I am aware that there are so many part time jobs available for nurses out there, but Canadian hospital does not encourage enough full time position for their nurses, that is why many in the past have left for USA. I just wanted to know if it possible and generally acceptable for Canadian nurses particular in Ontario to have more than 2 part time positions in two different hospitals? I would imagine that since nursing schedules isn't flexible this would lead to a lot conflicts, making two part time jobs impossible, has any of u managed this in some way? Please let us know your personal experience, thank u in advance! ^^ Bye

Thank you all for the replies; i have a better understand, i am pretty sure u have asked many questions other new member's have been thinking.

Thanks u all for amazing in depth replies ^^

Thank you all so much for your replies, i have a better understanding of what to expect now in Nursing. Seems like 2 weeks is the maximum u can take off, I was wondering if any of you guys have a 2D2N 5 days off are u able to choose when u can go on vacation ahead of time if the spot is available lets say; 5 days off + 4 days vacation + 5 days off + 4 days vacation + 5 days off = 3 weeks time off

Thanks a lot everyone, you all have been very helpful in answering my questions which possibly many of future nurses may have had. Joanna73, i am very interested in your rotation; are u in the 2D2N 5 days off 12 hrs shifts rotation? if so how common is this type of rotation in your workplace or in Hospital in general? how far are u able to choose your vacation in advance; such as 5 days off + 4 day vacation + 5 days off = 2 weeks; curious to know which department are u currently in? thanks :) If nurses are not able to get their vacations by summer can they fulfill in low demand times? Can an employee simply force u not to take vacations and just pay u? Actually Daisy i really want to be working as a ER Nurse, it something i am interested in and see myself in the future if i choose nursing, are there a lot of opportunities for ER nurses? I know that there is this Ontario Graduation Guarantee Program, are they many spots for ER nurses, how competitive is it? please let me know since you seem like you've gone through this process, they only info provided is a list of hospitals to choose from and they will select u after an interview that's it :/

Thanks a lot guys u all have been very helpful~~^^ Janfrn you schedule is indeed very interesting your able to maximize your vacation time by using as little hours as possible. I am aware that some hospitals favor schedule such as 2D2N, 5 off 12 hour shifts, this way people work days,nights, and rotations weekends. i guess a person is able to maximize their vacation as well with a similar schedule, 5 days off + 4 days vacation + 5 days off = 2 week off at a time. I hope this these type of flexibility is common in the work place? hey Janfrn; i just want to double check how far ahead are you allowed to book your vacation in advance in your case. Since your planner starts at 1st Jan 2012 to 31st March 2012, can you book a vacation anytime in the future from May 1st 2012 to April 31st 2013 if you have the vacation hours?

Thank you Ashley and Janfrn for both commenting back on my questions. I have a better understanding now than i did before of what i am getting into to a point where i need to think more about if nursing is the right career choice for me. I really want to be a nurse, but my main passion is traveling; there is a big conflict here. The PTO (paid time off) system in the US seems like a better option than that of the separate Leave bank we have in Canada, not only does it make things alot simpler but there is more flexibility. It just saddens me to see how some hospital would forced u to take 1 week vacation max at a time, the least they could do is grant u two weeks continuously as with another profession in Canada. Also I can already see that there is a lot of complications that may arise with family. Like Janfrn said, u have no idea if your vacation request gets approved or not, u may be forced to go on separate vacation without your spouse or family, which i think beats the whole purpose. Janfrn i wanted to know if u can request the management to give u vacation anytime throughout the year as long as its 2 weeks continuously, are they more likely to fulfill your request? I am also curious when the vacation planner is posted on January 1st and u have until March 31 to send in your requests; are u able to see which months are in hot demand for vacation so u can work around it and choose vacation periods where your more likely to get 2 weeks off continuously? do u usually find situation where the management would simply force no vacations for new graduates and instead just pay them, that would be inhumane. One more question, if you work part time as oppose to full time are u more likely to get able to take vacations time off? Thank you guys so much for posting your replies, I am pretty sure it may have answered similar questions other new-members were also thinking. ^^ Canada is indeed a great place :0

Hi i am to looking career change to Nursing as well, i am really interested in Nursing which i read online is all perfect for me, except when it comes to time off. I understand that vacation times differ from person to person and based on your experience as explained in these in depth replies so far, which is great. I have one question If your entitled to 4 vacation, are u allowed to take it all at once throughout the year (obviously not in December), or are u more likely to be forced to take 2 week maximum off until it accumulates to 4 weeks? Usually in other careers u can take all your vacation all together for a minimum of 3 weeks so that u are able to travel out of the country and enjoy, i do not know if nursing would be the same? Please share your experiences of how likely are u to get long vacations at one go, also if thats not the case can u always get approved for unpaid leave of absent?

Hi Nurses~ I am looking through a career change to Nursing which i read online is all perfect for me, except when it comes to time off. I understand that vacation times differ from person to person and place to place, but in Ontario if you have a union your entitled to i believe 4 weeks paid vacation after 3 years of experience as a RN. My question is first, are u allowed to take that 4 weeks at once throughout the year, or are u more likely to be forced to take 1 week maximum off until it accumulates to 4 weeks? please be free to tell your own personal experiences, doesn't have to be in Canada, can be anywhere in the world, US, Australia, Uk and so on. I also notice that Ontario has 12 Holidays throughout the year, if a nurses volunteers to work in any of the holidays i believe they are entitled to a day off anytime else in the year. Are nurses allowed to combined these holidays to their vacation time to make it an extended vacation? For example if a nurse is entitled to 4 weeks vacation + 5 holidays = they are off work for 5 weeks? One of my greatest motivation in life is to travel, usually 1 month off a year so i can cool down and explore far places of the world. I cant travel for example to Asia from Canada for a week and back, it would be disastrous and all that jet lag! the whole point of a vacation is to go somewhere far and different not somewhere close 500 km away. I am a type of person that doesn't mind working hard and long hours in a week 45hrs-56 hrs for 11 months, as long as i am able to get a chuck of vacation at one time so i can enjoy. Please share your experiences of how likely are u to get long vacations at one go, also if thats not the case can u always get approved for unpaid leave of absent?

Hi fellow Nurses~ I am looking through a career change to Nursing which i read online is all perfect for me, except when it comes to time off. I understand that vacation times differ from person to person and place to place, but in Ontario if you have a union your entitled to i believe 4 weeks paid vacation after 3 years of experience as a RN. My question is first, are u allowed to take that 4 weeks at once throughout the year, or are u more likely to be forced to take 1 week maximum off until it accumulates to 4 weeks? please be free to tell your own personal experiences. I also notice that Ontario has 12 Holidays throughout the year, if a nurses volunteers to work in any of the holidays i believe they are entitled to a day off anytime else in the year. Are nurses allowed to combined these holidays to their vacation time to make it an extended vacation? For example if a nurse is entitled to 4 weeks vacation + 5 holidays = they are off work for 5 weeks? One of my greatest motivation in life is to travel, usually 1 month off a year so i can cool down and explore far places of the world. I cant travel for example to Asia from Canada for a week and back, it would be disastrous and all that jet lag! the whole point of a vacation is to go somewhere far and different not somewhere close 500 km away. I am a type of person that doesn't mind working hard and long hours in a week 45hrs-56 hrs for 11 months, as long as i am able to get a chuck of vacation at one time so i can enjoy. Please share your experiences of how likely are u to get long vacations at one go, also if thats not the case can u always get approved for unpaid leave of absent?

Hi fellow Nurses~ I am looking through a career change to Nursing which i read online is all perfect for me, except when it comes to time off. I understand that vacation times differ from person to person and place to place, but in Ontario if you have a union your entitled to i believe 4 weeks paid vacation after 3 years of experience as a RN. My question is first, are u allowed to take that 4 weeks at once throughout the year, or are u more likely to be forced to take 1 week maximum off until it accumulates to 4 weeks? The reason why i say this is because, since there is a nurse shortage hospital force nurses not to take more than 2 weeks at a time, or some case 1 week, is this really the case, they even would deny for unpaid leave of absence? I also notice that Ontario has 12 Holidays throughout the year, if a nurses volunteers to work in any of the holidays i believe they are entitled to a day off anytime else in the year. Are nurses allowed to combined these holidays to their vacation time to make it an extended vacation? For example if a nurse is entitled to 4 weeks vacation + 5 holidays = they are off work for 5 weeks? One of my greatest motivation in life is to travel, usually 1 month off a year so i can cool down and explore far places of the world. I cant travel for example to Asia from Canada for a week and back, it would be disastrous and all that jet lag! the whole point of a vacation is to go somewhere far and different not somewhere close 500 km away. I am a type of person that doesn't mind working hard and long hours in a week 45hrs-56 hrs for 11 months, as long as i am able to get a chuck of vacation at one time so i can enjoy. Please share your experiences of how likely are u to get long vacations at one go, also if thats not the case can u always get approved for unpaid leave of absent?