to study in canada or USA? that is the question

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · May 4, 2006

Of course they hire Canadian nurses in Texas. They hire A LOT of Canadian nurses in Texas. For what it's worth, I would look at all the implications of where to train from a logistical viewpoint. As a non-resident in Texas, what will it cost you to go to school there? Not that I'm advocating that Canada keep churning out nurses to send to the US as we have for the last decade plus, but really, that is a huge consideration. Food for thought.

danigirl58 · May 4, 2006

hi everyone, im new to this site. i am living in canada and want to move to the usa, namely texas, to study to become a nurse. does the us hire canadian nurses, meaning should i study here and then try to get a nursing job in texas or should i get an i-20 and study there? any advice any of you can give me would be greatly appreciated. thank you.

another thought to add is how long do you want to go to school for. up here its pretty much 4 years ... not sure how many 3 year programs are left out there.

i have just finished my education and i am in the process of getting down to tx. either way you want to go realize that its going to be a lot of hard work. if you have family and support up here that might also be added to a benefit. now on the twist of things if you went down there and got your education, you may have a more difficult time getting licensed up here in case you had to come home for some reason.

for me i found doing my education here having a canadian license then getting an american one is just safer all around cause you never know what life is going to through at you and its better to have all your bases covered.

another thought is how much your education will cost. its best to research the cost program length and what the pre reques are for the nursing program that you want. as i have been trying to get down to tx i have been reading there forum and the nursing programs down there seem to be pretty competitive.

dani

control · May 4, 2006

I don't think it matters where you study, but I'd suggest a 4 year degree regardless. I think pretty soon even here in the US a 4 year degree will be standard RN fare as it is in most areas of Canada.

I do think it's easier (and probably more profitable, financially) for Canadians to come to the US than it is for US citizens to come to Canada.

I didn't realize there were so many Canadians in this general area (I'm in Louisiana) until I met my fiance last year. He is also Canadian.

Selke · May 5, 2006

I have been hearing lately that graduates of Canadian schools are better prepared clinically than graduates of American nursing schools -- they have many more clinical hours (not sure of specifics). I've also heard that recruiters of some American hospitals aggressively recruit Canadian graduates because of this. I've worked with a few Canadian travellers, who were fabulous people and nurses. Many American nursing schools have long waitlists, which is a drawback. Plus you'd have to pay primo tuition, and maybe have to show proof of financial support (maybe Canadian students are exempt from this requirement -- international students have to show proof of financial support from their home country, quite a large sum.) What about going to school in Canada, and if you have summer vacations, maybe you can volunteer or work in Texas over the summer? (Doing what, I don't know, but there must be something ...) I bet you will have no trouble finding a job here once you graduate. Good luck!

control · May 5, 2006

From what I have seen of Canadian schools (and regardless of my having a dog in the fight...I think I was really well educated in US schools, all the way up to university level) Canadian students are slightly better prepared. I've never compared Canadian nursing schools and US nursing schools one to one, so I can't really speak on that. However, school/your education is really what you make of it.

A relatively large sum of money is required for US citizens to migrate to Canada as well. It's a large sum to me anyway, as I don't have 10k readily accesible. Otherwise, I'd have migrated months ago.

Actually, you must have the money and/or a job offer to migrate to Canada. No idea what it costs to migrate to the US from Canada, though,

danigirl58 · May 5, 2006

well i know from my experience that you have to jump through many hoops, have all your i's dotted and your t's crossed. and then of course there is the financial requirements. i didn't think it would have been hard .... wow was i stupid and naive :) nothing it seems is easy anymore :)

p.s. things might have been a bit different for me as i had married an american. and let me ell you that once you do something like that everything changes and you are treated very differently educated or not :madface:

nursetobe4texas · May 5, 2006

thank you so much for all your responses. My boyfriend lives in texas and we figured it would be faster for me to go to school there, so we could be together quicker. Here in canada, if you gradute we have a loan forgiveness and i can tell you it would be much cheaper for me to go to school here than in texas, but we want to be together sooner than later. I guess it would be better all around to go to school here. I called one university in texas and cost of nursing degree would be more than $50,000, yikes plus i need to show financial proof for schooling , living expenses and any dependants that are coming with me, so we are talking alot of money here.Again thank you for the responses and any other responses yet to come.

suzanne4, RN · May 5, 2006

I don't think it matters where you study, but I'd suggest a 4 year degree regardless. I think pretty soon even here in the US a 4 year degree will be standard RN fare as it is in most areas of Canada.
I do think it's easier (and probably more profitable, financially) for Canadians to come to the US than it is for US citizens to come to Canada.
I didn't realize there were so many Canadians in this general area (I'm in Louisiana) until I met my fiance last year. He is also Canadian.

Not any easier, they both use the NAFTA TN Visa for work.