Published
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.
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.
dearohdear
2 Posts
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!:)