US New Grad applying for Ontario Board of Nursing

Fiona59 · Sep 19, 2013

Well, for starters you need to learn Canadian terms. We don't have Boards of Nursing up here.

I'd submit a detailed job description and letter of reference from my employer.

loriangel14, RN · Sep 19, 2013

You need to be asking the CNO these questions but I agree with Fiona.

knina · Sep 21, 2013

I know an RN who has been nursing in Alberta for 15 years and is a Canadian citizen, but is originally from the US. It took her many months to get her Ontario license, so start early. Also, you should know that Toronto is one of the toughest nursing job markets in Canada so get as much experience as you can before relocating. I don't hear much about clinical informatics nurse positions, not sure if they are as common in Canada as in the states.

canadianhungarian · Sep 21, 2013

I'm a US new grad from a BSN program and I'm trying to navigate the process of applying for the Ontario Board of Nursing. My husband is Canadian and we want to move to Toronto to be closer to his family in the next 5 years.
They want "Proof of Nursing Practice" and ask for previous employers. If I'm a new grad, how does this work?
To complicate the matter, my first job out of nursing school is a Clinical Informatics Educator position, so it's a non-traditional nursing role. I'm not even sure that would count as proof of RN nursing practice.
My goal is to work as a clinical informatics nurse in Toronto. Any advice would be very helpful!

Go to http://www.cno.org that will tell you all the requirements you need to practice in Ontario. My neighbor went through the same as you not to long ago. She graduated from Florida with a BSN and did qualify to write our nursing exam (CRNE). She passed but did have a hard time finding a job right away. To be honest we all do here in Toronto. She did end up finding a job in insurance which is what she wanted. She does commute though.

McLovin' · Sep 22, 2013

I'm a US new grad from a BSN program and I'm trying to navigate the process of applying for the Ontario Board of Nursing. My husband is Canadian and we want to move to Toronto to be closer to his family in the next 5 years.
They want "Proof of Nursing Practice" and ask for previous employers. If I'm a new grad, how does this work?
To complicate the matter, my first job out of nursing school is a Clinical Informatics Educator position, so it's a non-traditional nursing role. I'm not even sure that would count as proof of RN nursing practice.
My goal is to work as a clinical informatics nurse in Toronto. Any advice would be very helpful!

Not to burst your bubble, but clearly you have a much lesser chance of proving a clinical practice. Basically, CNO is looking for any general practice knowledge/experience. Another possible disaster is that they will (most likely) require you to enroll in a bridging program. Nevertheless, just try it out. Because you can never know the "mood" of the assessor, he/she might be very jolly when they get hold of your credentials. ;-)

Why don't you try getting assessed as an RPN as well? You have a better chance just to write the provincial boards rather that the RN. From there, you can surely work your way up the Canadian health care system.

sunnycalifornia · Sep 22, 2013

Thank you so much for all of your advice! I really appreciate it. I've contacted the CNO, so we'll see what they say. Perhaps I will need to find a clinical informatics job that doesn't require a nursing license first. The position seems to be called clinical analyst rather than nurse informaticist. I've heard how tough the job market is in Toronto; I thought California was bad! Thanks again for your insight.