Weird Situation

[Minreau]

Hi!

Let me describe my odd predicament. I am 21 years old with an Associate's of Arts in Business and a couple of years of related work experience. I am interested in moving myself to the medical field. Along with that, I have completed nurse aide training and I am waiting for a state test date (hopefully at latest in September 2010).

Here is where the problem comes in. I have a pending immigration application to Canada that was filed under the family class. The official website says the average wait time is 12 months. ***This is my second time submitting the application because the first one that I submitted to them was lost.*** That left me discouraged and I am currently having trust issues with the whole situation. I often wonder if I will ever be reunited with my loved one. We have been waiting for two and a part years, by the way.

With that in mind! A nurse aide salary (and I haven't even passed the exam yet) is very challenging to live on. I would like to eventually become a RN. However, I do not want to start a LPN or RN program in the states and end up being accepted as a permanent resident to Canada while in the middle of a program. Also, I am not sure how beneficial an education in the states would be if my long term plan is to live in Canada.

On the other hand, though... what if another problem occurs with the family application? Maybe instead of wasting time, I should be learning the needed skills so I can apply under the skilled worker section.

What I know for sure is I do not want to be sitting around and not being productive.

If you have been in a situation like this, what have you done about it?

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

I'm moving this thread to the International forum since it relates to immigration-type issues.

One thing I can tell you is that by the time your immigration status is sorted out, every province in Canada will require a BScN for entry to practice. The grandfather clause would not apply to you because you won't have time to complete your education, register and obtain any sort of experience before the change takes place. You should take that into consideration.

[Minreau]

In regards to janfrn's post...

Is it at all possible to start some sort of education in the states towards the BScN that would carry over to a Canadian college? Or am I being too optimistic here...

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Theoretically it's possible to do that, but in practice it's about as full of potholes as an Edmonton city street. Transferring credits from one Canadian university to another is difficult, doing so from another country extremely so. The only way to know for sure if credits earned where you currently are would be to first find out what universities there are in the area you wish to move to and then contact them with all the particulars of the courses you're thinking of taking for their assessment. My daughter has degrees from three different universities in three different provinces and even with a completed degree she found the application process to be a three-ring circus. But by all means, if you have that kind of energy, look into it.

[Minreau]

Janfrn, doing it that way sounds like a lot of effort. Maybe I could be doing something more productive with my time. It seems that by completing the education in Canada in the province I plan to live in sounds like the most efficient way of getting a BScN.

In your opinion, do you think having -any- experience in the medical field is better than no experience? That is, if I plan to one day become a RN. But more specifically: would getting a job as a nurse aide in the states be better than if I continued my job in retail (as I wait for a reply from immigration)? What would you do in my situation?

It looks like I am starting to come off as creepy but I'm just looking for ideas!

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Not creepy. I KNOW creepy.

You're right, it would be a huge effort. I didn't tell you all that to discourage you, only to give a heads-up. Things are always made to be unnecessarily complicated, I find. As to the question of health care experience, that's hard to answer. Some schools will see that as a huge advantage, and others are more interested in what grade you got in ninth grade algebra... and how many years ago you took it. And if there were a way to know which schools are which I've yet to figure it out. From a personal perspective, health care experience is golden in my books. Too many people go into nursing school without any idea of what they're getting into. (Read some of the First Year threads and you'll see what I mean.) "I want to help people." Well, you'll be doing that in ways you never dreamed: hot, dirty, smelly, back-breaking, undignified, demeaning and heart-rending - but not usually all at the same time - ways. And you won't be given as much credit as you deserve for what you do. But those of us who went into it with our eyes open did it anyway, and are still doing it. Working as a nurse's aide you'd definitely have an unvarnished view of our world, and the things you learn in the course of that job will help you greatly in school. IF... you're the kind of person who looks for opportunities to learn in whatever you do. Some of the nurse's aides I work with are inquisitive and know so much more about what we do, how and why we do it than they're ever recognized for. Others just do what they're paid to do and no more (sometimes actually much less!). I think you'd be in the former group.

What would I do? What I did... I came to this career as a pharmacy technician who was also the mother of a medically-complex youngster who spent many months in hospital. I saw the gritty reality of nursing work but still felt called to it. I knew that nurses are the unsung heroes of the medical world. Patients usually come to see that for themselves and their recognition is the best reward. (Now if they'd only go out and tell the world!) So in your shoes I would find work as a nurse's aide and start building a knowledge base. No learning is ever wasted.

[Minreau]

Janfrn, thank you so much for all of your input :)

I would have to agree that getting experience as a nurse aide seems to be the best option because there are no high risks involved (i.e: paying huge sum of money for college and not being able to use that education in a different country)

Let's see if I can pass my state nurse aide test first!

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

You're welcome! I'm sure you'll do very well on the test. Look at it as a dry run for your Canadian Registered Nurse Exam.