Ready for nursing in northern Canada?

[dearohdear]

Hello all!

It's my first time posting on a forum like this, so I'm hoping someone out there might have some nuggets of wisdom for me. :) I'm thinking about applying for nursing jobs up in remote northern Canada for a year, but I'm feeling torn whether it is a good option. I've worked the past 2 years on an acute medical floor and have felt I've "put in my dues" in that field. I got some amazing experiences out of it, but acute care nursing is just not for me. I'm not a night shift person, and am not a fast-paced personality, so I'm not a huge fan of the constant stress of acute/critical/emergency care. I recently gave up my permanent position to get into community health nursing, and love it so much more! I love the teaching aspect and health promotion side of community health nursing, and that "big picture" way of thinking about population based health. In the long term, I have very clear career aspirations: I know that in the near future, I want to go back to school for my graduate degree, either in epidemiology or public health. I'm really interested in communicable disease prevention and surveillance, and love to travel - so my dream job would be to integrate the two!

I've even already made a pro/con list:

Pros:

- Adventure! – I have a travel/adventure itch that I've been dying to scratch for the past 2 years. Seeing the Canadian north would be amazing.

- Good pay which will probably be able to fund grad school after a year.

- Student loan forgiveness. BIG help!

- Community/public health nursing experience.

- Regular hours for a year (which is more than I can say right now for my casual job – I gave up my line in acute care to get into community health but am having trouble picking up enough shifts – it was hard enough to get into public health, but even harder to get a regular line).

- I really enjoy working with different cultures and populations.

Cons:

- Isolated away from friends and family, I know the remoteness can really get lonely.

- Lack of sunlight – I wasn't happy working nights for 2 years.

- Fast-paced work environment – With there being minimal health professionals up north, I know there might be a lot of acute/emergency care overlap, which I know is not my strongest suit.

I'd love to hear your advice or personal experiences with Northern nursing. Thanks!:)

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Depending on where you plan to go, you may find yourself one of only a handful of health care professionals (mainly nurses) who take turns being the go-to for everything health related. You would be on call a lot of the time, day and night. You'd be suturing lacerations, performing x-rays, setting broken bones, possibly delivering babies who weren't quite expected yet, giving tetorifice shots, monitoring chronic conditions, providing well-baby checkups, arranging transfers for patients too sick to be managed remotely and a million other things. If you go to a larger centre, like Iqaluit or Yellowknife, you'd more likely still have to work rotating shifts on a lower-acuity medicine or surgery ward. Northern nursing is community nursing but not int he sense you mean. You wouldn't be working M-F 8-4 in a clinic or office.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

You could consider Select Medical Connections. I have a couple of friends working with them off and on. It's unlikely that your pay will be 15k monthly. They pay around 50 an hour plus housing and travel. Solutions Staffing is another company.

[aywl]

I am interested in north nurse, but is it a option for a LPN?

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

There are LPN positions in the north, at the larger hospitals. Currently there are no vacancies posted for LPNs in Nunavut or the Northwest Territories. Yukon has a couple of postings for continuing care. Pay is $55,939 to $64,406 with allowances for communities other than Whitehorse. Accommodation is not provided but is available to rent from the employer in all locations other than Whitehorse. Bonuses begin after 2 years of full time employment. There are 6 postings with AHS in the Fort Mac (northeast) area, two are temporary, 3 are permanent and one is casual. Max hourly rate, $33.95 plus a northern allowance of between $6300 and $12,480. In the Grande Prairie area (northwest) there are 5 postings. All are either temporary or casual. Max northern allowance is $3000. Norman Health Region in Manitoba has a handful of LPN permanent full time positions in places like Flin Flon, Thompson and the Pas. Wage range: $27.766 - $33.944. No information on the isolation allowance they offer. If you do some searching you can find all this information for yourself.