Working as a british trained pediatric nurse in canada

[bella1984]

Hi,

I am looking to move to Canada in next 3 years (hopefully Ontario). However I am purely pediatric trained in UK as we specialise at university. I have worked in the community for a year managing a complex care package for a ventilated adult and I currently work in the community as a Public health nurse ( health visitor in the UK) so work with parent/adults on a daily basis. Is this going to make it difficult for me to practice in Canada as a nurse without further training? Can anyone give me any more info?

Thanks

Bella x

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

Hi,

I am looking to move to Canada in next 3 years (hopefully Ontario). However I am purely pediatric trained in UK as we specialise at university. I have worked in the community for a year managing a complex care package for a ventilated adult and I currently work in the community as a Public health nurse ( health visitor in the UK) so work with parent/adults on a daily basis. Is this going to make it difficult for me to practice in Canada as a nurse without further training? Can anyone give me any more info?

Thanks

Bella x

Unless your school transcripts reflect clinical and theory hours in adult med/surg, geriatrics , maternity /obstetrics, and psychiatric/ mental health in addition to your pediatric training your credentials will not be deemed equivalent to the generalist Canadian nursing education. Entry to practice in Canada is a minimum of BScN for RNs. Your credentials will have to be assessed by NNAS before you can apply to CNO (college of nurses of Ontario) which can take 12-24 months to complete assessment. Then you apply to CNO and if deemed that you have equivalent education as a Canadian generalist BScN/RN you will be given authorization to take the NCLEX-RN

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Yes it can make it difficult. As mentioned Canada requires general trained. Usually the provinces require some form of assessment before eligibility to sit NCLEX will be allowed.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

To reinforce what JustBeachy and Silverdragon have said, don't wait until the last minute to start getting your ducks in a row. Begin making your applications right away so you have lots of time to work out the kinks. Too many people think they'll be able to just get on a plane, apply from their relatives' couch and they'll be registered and working before their baggage catches up with them. It never works that way. Ever. Even people who want to move from one province to another have a series of bridges to cross before they can be registered and it all takes a lot longer than anyone would think.