US maternity nurse moving to New Brunswick

DawnE · Nov 4, 2004

Can anyone give me information or advice about nursing in New Brunswick. I am originally from England ( registered nurse and midwife), currently living in Oregon in the US. My husband and I are currently going through the immigration process to move to NB and will hopefully be ready to move by Summer 2005. I currently work as an OB nurse in postpartum but can also do level 2 NICU. I am not totally fluent in French but can get by and am planning on brushing up my language skills. What are my chances of working in maternity in NB? I look at the regional health authority pages and never see OB jobs advertised. Also what are the wages like? I love maternity nursing and would be sad to have to move into another speciality of nursing so any advice would be great.
Thanks,
Sarah V

I lived and worked in NB for 13 years. Now I am in North Carolina.

where will you be moving to in NB? There are 3 main cities and a bunch of small cites/towns. I worked in Saint John...(note always spell the SAINT in full) on Peds. There is a level 2 NICU there and of course, L&D or case room as it is sometimes called.

Fredericton would have the same...any neonates requiring major surgury are shipped to Halifax.

Moncton had a french and an english hospital. I am not sure about Edmunston (northern NB, near the Quebec border), but you would likely have to speak french there.

Now, what kind of job do you want...full time, part time, casual? In a lot of places you can only get on in a casual position because the unionized system means that the jobs are all posted in house first and are usually snapped up by casual nurses. In some places you can get prebooked hours, but not always. As casual you are expected to be available in the event that you are needed. Now that's not so say that you have to sit by the phone. You can book off some days as "unavailable". A lot of casual nurses carry pagers or cell phones so that they don't miss calls.

If you have more specific questions just ask. NB is a beautiful place, very friendly, varied climate...I do miss it.

vandenbs · Nov 13, 2004

Hi Dawn,

Thanks for the info about New Brunswick. We have put on our immigration form that we will move to Fredericton so that is our starting point. I think we will rent somewhere initially until I have a guaranteed job and know the area. Currently I work two 12 hour night shifts but also do overtime. I would basically take any job offer that came my way in the postpartum field and would look at going back into labour and delivery if needed. I also have some level 2 NICU experience as a Newborn Triage nurse at the hospital I am currently at. Do you have any info or advice about hospitals in the Fredericton area. I have looked on-line and seen the Everett Chalmers hospital. When I started out in nursing in the UK i had to take temporary contracts so that doesn't worry me too much if it leads to a permanant job. Any ideas on salary. I can't find info on the ranges but think it is maybe between $17-21 an hour. Does that sound right to you? Any tips on good areas to look at to live in or how easy it is to rent in a rural location?

My mind is reeling overtime right now trying to think ahead ( probably a bad idea!!!).

Thanks for listening,

Sarah:)

I lived and worked in NB for 13 years. Now I am in North Carolina.
where will you be moving to in NB? There are 3 main cities and a bunch of small cites/towns. I worked in Saint John...(note always spell the SAINT in full) on Peds. There is a level 2 NICU there and of course, L&D or case room as it is sometimes called.
Fredericton would have the same...any neonates requiring major surgury are shipped to Halifax.
Moncton had a french and an english hospital. I am not sure about Edmunston (northern NB, near the Quebec border), but you would likely have to speak french there.
Now, what kind of job do you want...full time, part time, casual? In a lot of places you can only get on in a casual position because the unionized system means that the jobs are all posted in house first and are usually snapped up by casual nurses. In some places you can get prebooked hours, but not always. As casual you are expected to be available in the event that you are needed. Now that's not so say that you have to sit by the phone. You can book off some days as "unavailable". A lot of casual nurses carry pagers or cell phones so that they don't miss calls.
If you have more specific questions just ask. NB is a beautiful place, very friendly, varied climate...I do miss it.

DawnE · Nov 14, 2004

Hi Sarah, Fredericton is nice. It's the capital city of NB and a university town. Not big, which is what I like about NB. It is hotter in the summer and colder in the winter than if you go near the coast. They get plenty of snow.

You should be able to rent something very close to the city that is basically in the county...you don't have to go far to get into the woods. Watch out for moose. They are a hazard on the highways.

The DECH (DR. Everett Chalmers) is on the Lincoln & Oromocto side of Fredericton, near the Trans-Canada (Hwy 2) and Hwy 7 from Saint John, but then nothing is far in Fredericton. My dad lives in Lincoln. It would be about 10 minutes from the hospital. Oromocto would be about 20 minutes. Geary, Waasis, and Rusagonis aren't far either. I am not familiar with those communities, but they are close.

It would be great if you can get on part time, but don't sweat it if you can't, get your foot in the door by going casual. Assuming that you can only get on as casual, I don't know if the DECH has a central float pool, of if each floor/unit has it's own casual staff.

I forgot...there is a hospital in Oromocto also, smaller of course, but come to think of it, I don't thing they deliver babies. You will have to go to the DECH ot to Saint John which is about 1 hour away.

The nurses in NB were the lowest paid in the country. They have just signed a new contract and got a nice raise. I don't know what the starting rate is, but if you have a lot of experience I don't think it is out of the question to get credit for some years of experience. You might do better than $17-21 working casual since you won't have benefits you get a higher rate of pay.

I don't know how it works for immigrants and health care, but I imagine that within 3 months of working you would be covered. You won't have health premiums to pay, no co-pays etc., except for additional insurance, usually Blue Cross, which pays for your prescriptions and things like physiotherapy or chiropractor. Blue Cross is usually a benefit and if you are casual, you will have to buy it yourself. The other thing about NB is that real estate is cheaper especially out of the city.

If you want more info or to chat, why don't you email me. I don't check this board very often lately.

Hi Dawn,
Thanks for the info about New Brunswick. We have put on our immigration form that we will move to Fredericton so that is our starting point. I think we will rent somewhere initially until I have a guaranteed job and know the area. Currently I work two 12 hour night shifts but also do overtime. I would basically take any job offer that came my way in the postpartum field and would look at going back into labour and delivery if needed. I also have some level 2 NICU experience as a Newborn Triage nurse at the hospital I am currently at. Do you have any info or advice about hospitals in the Fredericton area. I have looked on-line and seen the Everett Chalmers hospital. When I started out in nursing in the UK i had to take temporary contracts so that doesn't worry me too much if it leads to a permanant job. Any ideas on salary. I can't find info on the ranges but think it is maybe between $17-21 an hour. Does that sound right to you? Any tips on good areas to look at to live in or how easy it is to rent in a rural location?
My mind is reeling overtime right now trying to think ahead ( probably a bad idea!!!).
Thanks for listening,
Sarah:)

FtonRN · Nov 26, 2004

Hello,

I work in Fredericton. Without violating the registration agreement of allnurses.com (no recruiting), I will try to answer any questions that you may have about maternity nursing in Fredericton. I worked as a maternity nurse there on 3NW approx. 16 years ago. It's a great unit. I really enjoyed it.

Actually, the best advice I can give you is to call the unit. The nurse manager would probably be pleased to talk to you. The hospital number is area code five zero six, four five two- five four zero zero. ask for 3NW.

ALso, River Valley Health has a nurse recruiter. Again, she can be reached via the hospital, ask switchboard for the nurse recruiter for River Valley Health. It is her job!

As for housing: most people find rentals from the classifieds in the Daily Gleaner newspaper. This can be viewed for free on line at www.canadaeast.com, choose 'classifieds", then choose real estate, choose daily gleaner.

Pay: the top of the pay scale (5 years experience) is almost $25 Cdn/hour. We just signed a new contact, and it has pay increases coming.

Hope you find this helpful,

:)

vandenbs · Dec 2, 2004

Thanks for all the great info. It is reassuring to talk to people who have lived and worked in the area. I am sitting my Canadian nursing exam in January and hopefully once that is out of the way will start being able to make further plans. All being well we should be moving to the Fredericton area early in the summer. I have looked at the Dr Everet Chalmers Hospital on line and am quite impressed. Curently I work in the largest birthing center in the Pacific Northwest, approx 6000 births a year. I used to work as a midwife in the UK and we had about 2500-3000 a year and would like to get back to a smaller unit. Does the unit in Fredericton have a seperate postpartum unit or is it labor, delivery, recovery and postparum combined? I can speak a bit of French but am definitely a bit rusty but I think I could soon brush up on my skills. Would I be able to get hired without being fluent in French or would this be an obstacle do you think? I can also work level 2 NICU and wondered whether there is a NICU unit there as well? I'm trying to keep my options open.

Once again thanks for your advice and hope to hear back from you soon,

Sarah.

Hello,
I work in Fredericton. Without violating the registration agreement of allnurses.com (no recruiting), I will try to answer any questions that you may have about maternity nursing in Fredericton. I worked as a maternity nurse there on 3NW approx. 16 years ago. It's a great unit. I really enjoyed it.
Actually, the best advice I can give you is to call the unit. The nurse manager would probably be pleased to talk to you. The hospital number is area code five zero six, four five two- five four zero zero. ask for 3NW.
ALso, River Valley Health has a nurse recruiter. Again, she can be reached via the hospital, ask switchboard for the nurse recruiter for River Valley Health. It is her job!
As for housing: most people find rentals from the classifieds in the Daily Gleaner newspaper. This can be viewed for free on line at www.canadaeast.com, choose 'classifieds", then choose real estate, choose daily gleaner.
Pay: the top of the pay scale (5 years experience) is almost $25 Cdn/hour. We just signed a new contact, and it has pay increases coming.
Hope you find this helpful,
:)

FtonRN · Dec 2, 2004

Don't worry about being bilingual. I am not. It is always an asset, of course, but it is not essential. Also, there are going to be monthly language seesions should you wish to brush up on your french language skills.

Fredericton has a seperate L & D unit that is in the area of the 3NW postpartum unit. The L & D unit recovers their own patients from general anaesthesia. I am not sure how many births there are per year. They have their own staff, however, I do believe there are some rotations that work both L & D and post partum.

The NICU is also on 3NW. Again, they have their own staff but there may be some casuals who are cross trained for multiple areas. I am sorry that I am not familar with level 2 NICU, so I am not much help to you there. There are more job postings available to you once you are on staff as they are offered internally first, and if unfilled, then they are advertised externally. So, if you can get your foot in the door, and be patient, you are bound to find a position in the area you most desire.

Fredericton is a wonderful small city, that is a great place to raise a family. The city market is a great family place to go on Saturday mornings as a family tradition, for multicultural food tasting experiences.

There is a small science center that kids like called Science East. There is a gymnastic place/bowling/golf/exercise place called Kingswood off the Hanwell Road.

Every year in winter they have ice slides built by volunteers for a big sliding party for children and adults. There is a Jazz and Blues festival every fall in September. The hospital has a fundrasier every June called Hospathon that caters to families. There are many wonderful churches and community groups.

There are lots of nearby lakes for summer fun. There is a provincial park at Mactaquac for boating/swimming/camping. There is a city lake called Killarney Lake. Fredericton has an indoor pool for swimming lessons. There is a pool at the YMCA, and also one at the university for lessons as well. There is an extensive walking trail system throughout the city. There is a small craft aquatic center......Fredericton is a small place but it does offer a nice quality of life.

Hope this is some assistance to you.