working in BC

Published

What hours do canadian nurses need to work in BC? do they need tohave 80 hours of clinical practice in obs/psych/and paeds nursing like the american nurses?? Is its easy for british Adultnurses to work there? I have some family in canada and was wondering if it would be easier for me to apply to work in canada rather than usa as the nursing courses here are not general anymore, so we don't get to experience obs/psych and paeds :( and i have my heart set on working abroad

Tina

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Yes, you are required to have both theory and clinical teaching in OB/Peds/Psych/Med-surg. http://www.rnabc.ca is the link to the registered nurses association who grant licenses to nurses. You might get some info from them or even talk to someone from health match bc. They recruit nurses to work in different parts of the province and may have some info for you to get the required time.

I do know that you can take specialty courses through BCIT (http://www.bcit.ca) via distance education. They offer both theory and clinical training. You have to be a nurse to take the clinical courses, but you can get the theory ones while you are still a nursing student. That might be enough to get you the required hours. I know they have perinatal (OB) and pediatric, but I'm not sure about psych.... I'll see what I can find for you.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Here is the pediatric link:

http://www.bcit.ca/study/programs/680bascert

Here is the ob link:

http://www.bcit.ca/study/programs/680cascert

I don't see psych, but if they accept you to take the other classes, they might just let you in on the psych class with regular nursing students.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Yes, you are required to have both theory and clinical teaching in OB/Peds/Psych/Med-surg. http://www.rnabc.ca is the link to the registered nurses association who grant licenses to nurses. You might get some info from them or even talk to someone from health match bc. They recruit nurses to work in different parts of the province and may have some info for you to get the required time.

I do know that you can take specialty courses through BCIT (http://www.bcit.ca) via distance education. They offer both theory and clinical training. You have to be a nurse to take the clinical courses, but you can get the theory ones while you are still a nursing student. That might be enough to get you the required hours. I know they have perinatal (OB) and pediatric, but I'm not sure about psych.... I'll see what I can find for you.

Thanks for those! I will have a look at the sites you have reccomended, also I went on the canadian immigration website..i have enough points to be able to immigrate to canada which is good, what if i were to immigrate there and live with my family for a while and attend a canadian nursing school whilst there to get the required hours would that let me then apply for licensing over there?? As that is one of the plans i am thinking of

Tina

Up Vote Up Vote ×

It should, yes. I would think that BCIT could allow you to do the theory and clinical work through their university. Then you would be elligible to write the nursing exam and become licensed. The only problem would be if there is a waiting list to get in. That's why it might be a good idea for you to do as much as you can by distance ed. If you got the theory all done while you're still in the UK, you'd just have to do the clinicals and therefore probably wouldn't have to worry so much about a waitlist.

I worked with a lot of British nurses in Vancouver, all of them great nurses.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
It should, yes. I would think that BCIT could allow you to do the theory and clinical work through their university. Then you would be elligible to write the nursing exam and become licensed. The only problem would be if there is a waiting list to get in. That's why it might be a good idea for you to do as much as you can by distance ed. If you got the theory all done while you're still in the UK, you'd just have to do the clinicals and therefore probably wouldn't have to worry so much about a waitlist.

I worked with a lot of British nurses in Vancouver, all of them great nurses.

Hmm I just had a look at the BCIT website at their requirements...I think you actually have to be in a canadian province to be eglible for the distance learning...

Up Vote Up Vote ×

They have a lot of international students, so that seems silly. If they require you to have a Canadian address, you could always have the things sent to your relatives and have them mail it to the UK. I took the OB courses and my Canadian instructor had taken midwifery courses in the UK, so I can't imagine they are unwilling to take international students at all.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
They have a lot of international students, so that seems silly. If they require you to have a Canadian address, you could always have the things sent to your relatives and have them mail it to the UK. I took the OB courses and my Canadian instructor had taken midwifery courses in the UK, so I can't imagine they are unwilling to take international students at all.

that is true, hmm i will look into that then and see what they say, thanks fergus!

tina

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Good luck! Even if you were Canadian, you'd still have to get program head approval to take any of those classes so it shouldn't be too tough.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion