Title used for "Quality Assurance Nurse" in Canada

5cats · Sep 13, 2009

Saskatchewan, even Ontario used to accept diplomas and actually I'm not aware that it's completely not accepted anywhere anymore, just not for newgrads. But in some countries there is no Bachelor degree for nursing so I wonder how they deal with applicants from those countries.

I suggest you contact the college in the province you are interested in directly.

5cats

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Sep 13, 2009

nurses working in community health, or public health as it's referred to most often in canada requires a baccalaureate degree in nursing as a minimum requirement. even primary care centres require that level of educational preparation. for example, read this posting for a community health nurse posted on ahs's careers page: https://www.capitalhealth.ca/careers/careeropportunities/hr_employmentcategory.asp?jb1=2&jb2=bt-42055-cc i suspect this is the type of position you're seeking. but as you can see, it's also under the control of ahs, and that red warning at the bottom of the posting is pretty succinct... this position is open to qualified ahs employees only. there's also a posting for a community care coordinator, which demands a baccalaureate degree in either nursing, occupational or physical therapy or social work.those of us lacking those letters after our names will be relegated to stagnant positions with no possibility of advancement beyond a certain point, no matter that we may have the knowledge, skills and experience necessary for the position.

as for the processing time with carna, if you've read the other threads on the subject you'll already know that they have thousands of ien applications to process, and have not hired many more registrars to do the work. the cost of processing all these additional applications as well as that of the sec assessment required of some iens has been passed on to those of us who are registered with carna already in the form of annual increases to our registration fees in the range of 10-15% per year. the process will be as quick as the slowest component, usually the regulatory bodies and educational facilities who are asked to submit documentation. they're in no hurry because the end result will not affect them, and there are costs associated with complying. so carna can't be totally blamed.

i'm not totally sure what you mean by "any nursing specialty in which patient care is involved but it is not a direct patient care". clinic nursing fits, but those clinics located in hospitals, such as cardiology, oncology, transplant, outpatient iv, diabetes monitoring, diagnostic imaging, etc are all ahs positions and they're hotly contested positions desired by senior nurses reaching the age where they don't want shift-work any more. many of them also require a degree in nursing. working in doctors' offices and private surgical facilities is another option but the pay sucks and there's no protection for the nurse in the case of financial difficulties. research nursing is another option; there has been a specific position posted at the university hospital for more than a year and no one has stayed in it for a mutitude of reasons. and if the funding source dries up the job is gone.

switching from one area of nursing to another can be fairly simple, or very difficult, depending in which direction you choose to go. if a facility hires someone for a position for which they have no experience, they understand the risks and take them on anyway. where they fall apart is ensuring that the inexperienced person is permitted the time and resources to learn the new job properly. here, school health nursing is also controlled by ahs, through the primary care networks. there are some private schools for medically-fragile or medically-complex/severely handicapped persons (my son attends one) that hire outside of ahs, but the pay is not great - they don't get funding for those services and have to find the money from somewhere. if you decide you'd like to try geriatric nursing there are several private not-for-profit religiously-affiliated facilities you could apply to, but be aware that they don't have any experience with offshore recruiting because they don't usually need to recruit from elsewhere. they staff mostly with cnas, a handful of lpns and one or two rns. there really are no "protocols", you decide where you'd maybe like to work and submit applications. they'll either interview you or they won't.

RGN1 · Sep 15, 2009

Come some time in 2010 (Jan maybe knows the exact month) only degree level nurses will be accepted in Alberta too. So the clock is ticking for us old fashioned trained nurses (although those already in position are OK - well as OK as Dr "Duck-it" will let us be!!)

Fiona59 · Sep 16, 2009

I think that is only for NEW graduates. Our diploma progammes ended this year.

You moldy, oldies (I'm ducking as I type) will be grandfathered.

What do you think of the bed closures????

5cats · Sep 16, 2009

mmmh, this oldie thinks we might be able to recruit eh? Come to Saskatchewan:)

5cats · Sep 16, 2009

And to be serious, we are very alarmed here what's going on in our neighbour province, very scary!

5cats

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Sep 16, 2009

Come some time in 2010 (Jan maybe knows the exact month) only degree level nurses will be accepted in Alberta too.

That date can be found above in Post #10. Any person graduating from a nursing program in Alberta after December 31, 2010 will require a baccalaureate degree in nursing to be eligible for licensure. The language isn't clear but I suspect the same will apply to anyone who graduates anywhere after that date if they want to register in Alberta.

angel81 · Sep 18, 2009

Right now I am evaluating Saskatchewan (very difficult to pronounce :) but I have learnt). I would like to know the advantages and disadvantages of the province like population, economy, taxes, household expense, which city is preferable to live in, schooling etc. I am in a process of searching for these things however, people who are living there and are practically experiencing everything can properly guide. I planned for Alberta however, looking at the recent picture it seems that I will be having difficulty in job hunting. I need to prepare an alternative plan as well till my documents are assessed by CARNA. I know for another province I will have to again process my documents by a new body like SRNA will assess it in Saskatchewan. Do they consider in one way or the other if one has received practice permit from another province ?

I wish to enroll myself in BScN next year however, I am having few constraints. Here, I will have to leave my job, might not get study leaves for it and it will not be feasible for me. One more thing I wanted to ask that here few diploma nurses have done MBA (Masters in Business Administration) and they are considered as masters level staff and get the positions and career ladder accordingly. Is there anything like that in Canada as well? Frankly speaking I am not in favour of this track if one has selected nursing as a career then I would prefer further studies in the same field. These are my thoughts, it may vary person to person.

Now a days diploma nurses are having difficulties if they are working on management positions like me as well. Considering the fact that I conduct independant tracer audits here in my hospital and coordinate every activity related to internal or external audits like JCIA etc and am closely involved in it. However, when I came up with an interest of having training on "lead auditor" course then they told me that I need to work on my education. It is really discouraging when it becomes hurdle in anyway in our career path. Time is becoming tough for us I mean for diploma nurses whether we are working on management position or bedside nursing.

Jan I have also searched on public health nursing and still exploring the fields that best suit my interest areas, thanks for providing me the link but its also under AHS as you've mentioned. Is there any magic to get enrolled in AHS just kidding. I am exploring other options as well. You are right CARNA is having a number of IENs to evaluate and allow practice permit to them that is the reason they taking time. They requested for few notarized documents from me for birth and marriage certificated and all, I have provided. They are still under process of assessing all my documents.

5cats · Sep 18, 2009

To be frank, when reading your posts, not sure why you are moving at all, you seem to have a good job that you like. And i don't get your plans, where do you want to get the Bachelor?

Regarding SK to be brutal mainly we need bedside nurses with experience, and nurses for LTC.

5cats

RGN1 · Sep 19, 2009

I think that is only for NEW graduates. Our diploma progammes ended this year.
You moldy, oldies (I'm ducking as I type) will be grandfathered.
What do you think of the bed closures????

Yes, affects new grads & IENs I believe. Just means that I'll be stuck on my unit forever because it won't be long before every job description reads degree required!

As for the bed closures - well................there is definitely a need to get LTC pts out of acute beds, so that bit is great news (we have 6 off service bed-blockers on my unit alone right now.) I doubt they'll be closing their beds when they go either, as we still have pts in the corridor!! However, it's how they'll go about it that worries me. The idea is great but from the UK my experience of "care in the community" it's more more like "dump" in the community!! Cheap though:chuckle!!

The unit I'm on is very,very acute & as it's surgical oncology most of the floor nurses are not too concerned.......yet! Also nurses directly affected by the closure of eldery care beds may well need to be re-deployed to those 800 beds they're creating, so I think I'll reserve judgement for the mo.

However, I'll feel WAY safer when my PR comes through - paperwork is in processing as I write.

angel81 · Sep 20, 2009

To be frank, when reading your posts, not sure why you are moving at all, you seem to have a good job that you like. And i don't get your plans, where do you want to get the Bachelor?
5cats

Ah, that's a good question 5cats. Now that you've asked I am going to respond it. I am working on one of the best positions in one of the best departments of a best hospital in my country which is having international accreditation and all. I had to quote this in order to communicate my intention and urge to move in another country leaving everything behind including the position of my interest on which I am working right now. However, you'll be surprised to hear that this management position is returning me an outcome of 280$ of salary per year. If I calculate this for a day that comes around 1$ per hour, they have provided me a promotion this year on performance appraisal (Excellent 83%) which is 0.8$ per month, I do not want to calculate this for a day it will discourage me further :)

I need to settle down my career now which gives me a good career ladder and outcome in return after all my efforts.

angel81 · Sep 28, 2009

hey friends! just an update, my assessment part is cleared by CARNA and they have informed that they have sent a letter to me. I checked the website which says that I require to sit for SEC assessment for general, obgyn, peads, mental health. This may be because I am on quality assurance nurse position and I do not posses direct patient care experience since 3 years. I am really afraid of this SEC assessment, do not know how to cope up with this....