RN training in Edmoton transfering to Illinois

Silverdragon102, BSN · Nov 7, 2007

I was born and raised in Chicago but i am getting married this summer and am moving to Edmonton. i will be studying nursing at U of A or Grant MacEwan College. Im wondering how different canadian nursing is from the States. Will i easily be able to transfer back to illinois someday if we move back?

Can't talk about differences between US and Canadian nursing but if going back to the US after completing training you just need to meet requirements for foreign trained nurse and complete licensure requirements. Plenty of information regarding this in the International forum

Fiona59 · Nov 7, 2007

From what my coworkers tell me not much is different.

You'll be doing a four years BScN at either school. From what I've seen lately, I would stay away from the U. The students lately have had horrible attitudes, don't want to do any direct patient care (ie get their hands dirty) and have wanted to delegate to NAs and the LPNs as much as possible. The general attitude has been, "I'll hang IV meds and do wound vacs but I have no intention of being a hospital nurse".

Nope, we're not happy about what the U is producing.

Jolie, BSN · Nov 7, 2007

I have worked with Canadian-trained nurses here in the U.S. I don't think you will have much difficulty qualifying for licensure, but it is best to check with IL Dept. of Professional Regulation regarding requirements for IL licensure. Good luck!

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Nov 8, 2007

I agree with what Fiona says. The grads from the U are really on a power trip and have no desire to really be bedside nurses. They want the money but not the job. Shift work? Weekends? Holidays? Oh no, not them!!

You won't have any problem taking your education from here back to Illinois. You will have to write the NCLEX, but you can do that here pretty much right after graduation.

raquelita · Nov 8, 2007

Wow ... how are the nurses from Grant MacEwan?

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Nov 8, 2007

They tend to be more clinically capable, and they have fewer "airs". But that too is starting to change. A friend's daughter just graduated from there and she had virtually no pediatric or obstetric clinical content in her program. They're busy cranking out med-surg nurses in the accelerated program... as if other areas aren't short too. There's a baby boom in Alberta, because so many young people from other provinces have come here to chase the oilpatch dream. Two Edmonton area hospitals have had to expand their maternity areas; my local hospital added 15 LDRP beds just to catch up. Our pediatric floors are often so short that patients languish in PICU for days after they're ready for transfer, to the point where they could probably just go home! Yesterday we had a kid who only needed a few hours of observation in PICU and was ready to go early in the morning, but needed isolation intil 1300 hours. The floor didn't have an isolation bed, but they had a ward bed, so the transfer was held until the isolation was lifted... at which time the bed was now occupied by someone else. They ended up having to take the kid anyway because we sent out our transport team to get a kid who was being cannulated for ECMO in another city, and we're the only peds ECMO team around... But we need those med-surg nurses more, I guess.

Fiona59 · Nov 8, 2007

Well at least at your local hospital you won't be getting the high risks and addicts I used to work with. Nothing beats trying to get a urine catch on a jittery baby.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Nov 9, 2007

Been there and done that too, Fiona. I worked at Women's Hospital in Winnipeg in the IMCN and we got all the drug-addicted babies in the province there, it seemed. Solvent is the worst!!

raquelita · Nov 9, 2007

o wow... thats intense! well, that honestly sounds like im headed to the right place. im a registered nursing assistant right now working in a retirment community, mostly in the dimmentia unit. i like it because im learning a lot, but i am only working there because i couldnt find a job in labor and delivery. im going to eventually become a nurse midwife, so i would like the practice and education in prenatal. are there opportunities for nursing students or nursing assistants in the hospitals in edmonton? i want to be working part time while i study.

raquelita · Nov 9, 2007

part time in labor and delivery that is...

raquelita · Nov 9, 2007

do nursing assistants work in hospitals in alberta? what are their duties?