Seeking employment in a new province

RNable · Aug 16, 2019

I recently moved to another province in Canada to be with my fiance, and am transitioning from a rural setting to a city one. I've been an RN for almost five years, with experience on a med-surg floor, in recovery room, operating room, and in community as a wound care nurse. But I'm really stumped here, ladies and gents: I'm applying for every job that is even remotely connected to my skill set, and I'm not even getting a nibble. I've been at this for admittedly not very long--maybe 3 weeks or so.

A little backstory: I worked in this health authority when I first graduated and then went to another province after a year of casual work. I took a full time posting in community, and then transitioned to recovery room after 1.5 yrs. I was given the chance at an OR training line, so I took it, and recently (< 6 months) got my perioperative certification from the small hospital (3 ORs, 40-50 beds, ER + stepdown ICU) where I was working. I don't have a lot of OR experience, but I have some and I'm a quick learner and a good teammate. I applied for a casual position back in the spring (March) when I was looking for a chance to come east and be with my partner, and interviewed via phone. When I didn't hear anything else, I figured they'd backburnered me because their intakes are spring (April) and fall (Sept) and it was unlikely that I could quit my position and get licensed in a new province for April, a discussion we had during the interview. I recently saw a casual post for OR come up and I've applied for it again, as well as contacted the HR rep and the manager who interviewed me, but nothing back yet. I have my license to practice here now, and I'm just wondering if it's better to take any casual position I can get just so I'm part of the CBA, or if I should try and get a position in my chosen field. It's just a bit of a shock to come from a rural place where you can work overtime 3-5 days/week to a city where no one will look at you twice! Advice and input are appreciated.

RNable, the country mouse