U.S. to Canada?

[fawnsternurse]

Hello, I am a U.S., associate degree R.N. living in Buffalo. How difficult would it be to be able to work in Canada? Find a job? Do I have to retake the exam? Any input would be appreciated. I have always LOVED Canada and every once in awhile I toy with this idea but never follow up with it basically because I am not sure how it would work.

Thanks again!

[paddi]

Last I read on the College of Nurses of Ontario's website, this is still under discussion. The expectation is that all foreign educated Nurses will have a BSN/BSCN in order to practice in Ontario. However this has proved to be a problem for many foreign trained Nurses already working here. So there was discussion of grandfathering them in as well. All RN's from other Provinces in Canada do get grandfathered in in Ontario but I doubt that new incoming foreign trained Nurses (experienced or not) will be accepted without a Univeristy Degree. Let us know if you find things have changed.

Eilleen.

Hi Eileen.

Thanks for taking the time to respnd, I am already an BSN nurse,did my Bachelors in the 90s.

pd

[madore57]

Hi Eileen.

Thanks for taking the time to respnd, I am already an BSN nurse,did my Bachelors in the 90s.

pd

Hi Paddi,

I read your email this morning. It's tough to decide which country to work in. If I were basing my decision on employment alone, I'd say don't come to Ontario. The work situation is much more stable in the US for RN's. The hospitals here are old. The equipment that you are accustomed to will not be found here. Health Care Providers here do not treat their patients with the same respect or provide the same level of customer service that they do in Texas/Maryland (don't know about the rest of the US). I think this is because of 'Universal Health Care'. It seems the feeling on their part is 'I'm paying for you to be here to so stop complaining'. Accountability is much higher in the US States I've worked in. The benefits are not good here. They are decreasing every day what we can get from OHIP (universal health care). The Union has less power than ever. You'll do much better to stay in the U.S.

Are you a Canadian? You can hold permanent citizenship and residency status in both countries for as long as you like.

The only reason I would come back to Ontario would be to have kids because you get 1 year maternity leave here. You'll have a higher standard of living by staying South. That is because you and your spouse are employed and will obviously have insurance from work. Now if you were unemployed or in prison or an immigrant, this would definitely be the place to go because I must say, we do take care of them very well. Better than we take care of our elderly who have worked for 50 years and paid for benefits for all those years.

It breaks my heart to say it but don't come North (unless you plan to have more kids - after which you head back South) - your standard of living will take a dive which will be hard to recover from. I came home because my Mom was dying and I'm happy I could be there for her. Now I'm stuck here - for a while.

I hope this answers your questions.

Eilleen.