Recent AA graduate from US wanting to move to Canada

Silverdragon102, BSN · Nov 28, 2016

Canada is huge so you need to decide which province you want to live and work in. Then check out posts to see how difficult it is to register with that provincial College of RN. Pay also varies from province to province

azizjaan · Nov 28, 2016

Canada is huge so you need to decide which province you want to live and work in. Then check out posts to see how difficult it is to register with that provincial College of RN. Pay also varies from province to province

Im looking to move to the Toronto area.

dayandnight · Nov 28, 2016

I studied nursing in the States and moved to Canada (currently in BC)

1. you will get paid less if you move to a major city in Canada. Depends on your experience but here rural and mid-west, mid eastern provinces, or the northern areas pays more...

2. Bedside nursing is very different as there are not as many nursing assistants (called psw or care aides here) in the hospitals. In a non ICU, med-surg setting you typically have 4-5 patients with only 1 nursing assistant/care aid for 20-40 patients. You also work with LPNs and depending on the province you go to, they don't have the same scope as RNs so that's also another thing you want to keep in mind. I know some hospitals in Ontario do not hire LPNs in their acute care units.

So typically I have 10 patients together with the LPN and I provide washes and feeding to all my patients and do all the wound vac dressings, trach care etc to my patients as the LPN cannot do those. Not to mention that nursing assistants in Canada cannot do any documentation at the hospitals and they do not do glucose checks or VS.

Nursing home-wise it is not as different and there are many care aids working (9-12 patient assignment, nurses tend to have 30-50 depending on the facility).

The ICU also have 3/4 x as less nursing assistants compared to the states.. the nurses do all the care themselves. Some do not have care aids/nursing assistants at all (as per my friend who practices in Ontario)

3. It's very hands on here

4. Rotating shifts. If you are used to the fixed days or nights or rotating every 1.5 weeks or a month it might be hard getting used to. Standard full time hours are 12 hr shifts- 4 shifts on and 3 off usually with days and nights together in that same block. (2 days 2 nights 3 days off etc) anything less than that is considered part time where I am at

Fiona59 · Nov 29, 2016

I studied nursing in the States and moved to Canada (currently in BC)
1. you will get paid less if you move to a major city in Canada. Depends on your experience but here rural and mid-west, mid eastern provinces, or the northern areas pays more...
2. Bedside nursing is very different as there are not as many nursing assistants (called psw or care aides here) in the hospitals. In a non ICU, med-surg setting you typically have 4-5 patients with only 1 nursing assistant/care aid for 20-40 patients. You also work with LPNs and depending on the province you go to, they don't have the same scope as RNs so that's also another thing you want to keep in mind. I know some hospitals in Ontario do not hire LPNs in their acute care units.
So typically I have 10 patients together with the LPN and I provide washes and feeding to all my patients and do all the wound vac dressings, trach care etc to my patients as the LPN cannot do those. Not to mention that nursing assistants in Canada cannot do any documentation at the hospitals and they do not do glucose checks or VS.
Nursing home-wise it is not as different and there are many care aids working (9-12 patient assignment, nurses tend to have 30-50 depending on the facility).
.......at[/quote
BC is extremely restrictive towards LPNs and should not be used as a base line
In Alberta, LPNs do wound vacs, trach care, baseball calls whatever their patient requires. We have awesome RTs who round on the Tracy patients and do much of the routine care for all nurses.
NAs can and so chart. They do vitals, blood sugars, and basic ostomy emptying and report back to a nurse.
In LTC, yes RNs are responsible for a floor or two, but it's mainly administrative. They don't carry a patient care assignment.

azizjaan · Nov 30, 2016

Thank you so much for giving a reply and sharing with me what nursing is like in Canada compared to the US. In your opinion how are the wages in comparison to living expenses, do you save anything at the end of the month or just kinda getting by but you love your job so it doesn't matter?

I know it depends on each individual person and their spending habits. But I myself am not a big spender I can be happy with a used car and decent sized living space.

azizjaan · Nov 30, 2016

@companisbiki

Thank you for your reply.

-Did you work in the US or go straight to Canada after school?

-How long was your process of getting your license established in Canada? I read that the US-NCLEX is accepted in Ontario but I still need to get my BSN as I heard my chances of getting a job with my AA degree and no experience is slim to none.

-Honestly, how do you like living Canada? Would you ever consider moving back to the states? Cold weather wouldn't be an issue for me I can see myself adapting quickly. But maybe I'm just talking out of my behind because I live in the SF bay area and I've never experienced a Canadian winter.

azizjaan · Nov 30, 2016

Been scavenging through other posts and it looks like finding an RN position in Canada is difficult to find, especially for US RNs even with experience. This sucks big time :sniff: . Your advice please, apply to the NNAS now with my AA degree, or wait till I get my BSN?

dayandnight · Dec 1, 2016

I studied nursing in the States and moved to Canada (currently in BC)
1. you will get paid less if you move to a major city in Canada. Depends on your experience but here rural and mid-west, mid eastern provinces, or the northern areas pays more...
2. Bedside nursing is very different as there are not as many nursing assistants (called psw or care aides here) in the hospitals. In a non ICU, med-surg setting you typically have 4-5 patients with only 1 nursing assistant/care aid for 20-40 patients. You also work with LPNs and depending on the province you go to, they don't have the same scope as RNs so that's also another thing you want to keep in mind. I know some hospitals in Ontario do not hire LPNs in their acute care units.
So typically I have 10 patients together with the LPN and I provide washes and feeding to all my patients and do all the wound vac dressings, trach care etc to my patients as the LPN cannot do those. Not to mention that nursing assistants in Canada cannot do any documentation at the hospitals and they do not do glucose checks or VS.
Nursing home-wise it is not as different and there are many care aids working (9-12 patient assignment, nurses tend to have 30-50 depending on the facility).
.......at[/quote
BC is extremely restrictive towards LPNs and should not be used as a base line
In Alberta, LPNs do wound vacs, trach care, baseball calls whatever their patient requires. We have awesome RTs who round on the Tracy patients and do much of the routine care for all nurses.
NAs can and so chart. They do vitals, blood sugars, and basic ostomy emptying and report back to a nurse.
In LTC, yes RNs are responsible for a floor or two, but it's mainly administrative. They don't carry a patient care assignment.
Yes I did mention I was in BC. It's just that a lot of people when they do immigrate to Canada, go to either Ontario or BC where LPN scope is I guess more limited than other provinces. Not many people do expect BC to be this way and are surprised when they do find out.. I even had Ontario nurses come here for the warm weather but say that the working conditions are much better for them in Ontario. There are a lot of differences between the provinces since Canada is such a big country, so I just wanted to give a fair warning to those who were interested in moving here (wink) Better to be informed than not right?

dayandnight · Dec 1, 2016

@companisbiki
Thank you for your reply.
-Did you work in the US or go straight to Canada after school?
-How long was your process of getting your license established in Canada? I read that the US-NCLEX is accepted in Ontario but I still need to get my BSN as I heard my chances of getting a job with my AA degree and no experience is slim to none.
-Honestly, how do you like living Canada? Would you ever consider moving back to the states? Cold weather wouldn't be an issue for me I can see myself adapting quickly. But maybe I'm just talking out of my behind because I live in the SF bay area and I've never experienced a Canadian winter.

It is cold here, even if you move to areas like BC which has a milder climate.

I do enjoy working here but initially, it was quite a culture shock and took me years to get used to the Canadian nursing system. (I wish I took a refresher but I didn't because I did not want to spend another 1 year to obtain my license- this was before NNAS came to be)

I would recommend you getting your BSN but also trying to apply with AA anyhow. Canada has gotten very picky on accepting foreign education for their licensure, but BC is fairly open and has been processing licenses from nurses in Asian countries with less than a Bachelor's degree (but you need to take the SEC/NCAS exam like everybody else and take the 1 year refresher depending on your exam results).

With the refresher course in BC it is fairly easy to get a casual job and if you do have specialty unit experience, rural areas will accept that and will hire you. (we are very short in specialized RNs pretty much everywhere) I can't say about other provinces, but in BC the refresher course seems to be a good transition state for many foreign nurses to get used to the system and gain hands on experience during clinicals. P.S. you can't take the refresher course for a lot of the provinces now unless you have a permanent residency (green card).. I recommend finding immigration routes first

loriangel14, RN · Dec 2, 2016

Been scavenging through other posts and it looks like finding an RN position in Canada is difficult to find, especially for US RNs even with experience. This sucks big time . Your advice please, apply to the NNAS now with my AA degree, or wait till I get my BSN?

Yes you will need your BSN before you apply to the NNAS.

companisbiki is in BC so much if what they say doesn't apply to Ontario. Our PSWs do lots of charting. PNs can do wound vacs and trach care. We also hang blood and access PICC lines

The job market in Ontario is pretty bleak.

dayandnight · Dec 2, 2016

Yes you will need your BSN before you apply to the NNAS.
companisbiki is in BC so much if what they say doesn't apply to Ontario. Our PSWs do lots of charting. PNs can do wound vacs and trach care. We also hang blood and access PICC lines
The job market in Ontario is pretty bleak.

Ok after reading your comment I tried to edit my comment but it can't be edited anymore. Sorry about the confusion in my comment. Should not have mentioned about Ontario PN's scope if I am not 100% sure about it.