Psyched

Hi,

Soon to be arriving in BC, within 2 weeks actually. Wondering how many nurses frequent this forum and any views on nursing in Canada. Has it compared favorably with nursing in the UK?

All getting exciting again after a bit of a dip, last few weeks have been exhausting with the final prep stuff. Starting to chill a bit now though!

kazchug

I am a community nurse working in Richmond, been here for 2 yrs. The paperwork took some getting used to as it is all computerised here, but the care plans are very similar. I actually prefer my job here, when I go back I would like to take the job with me. Let me know if have any particular questions that need answers.

Karen

terese677

I'm an ICU nurse been here around 2 years. I find it around 10 years at least behind the UK, staffing ratios very poor ( due to lack of staff) and attempts to save money.
Good luck with the job

Panz

My young lady is a mental health nurse. She also said the practices are way out of date, in her estimation by about 20 years (I have no idea myself).

The best candidates for new opportunities don't necessarily get a look in and new opportunities mainly go on seniority not performance. She also specified she didn't want to be working in geriatrics when she was offered a position they told her not to worry, low and behold once we got here - she was working in geriatrics! Her colleagues don't seem to have as many mental health skills as her but they are better at the general nursing side as they are dual trained where as she wasn't when she did the course in the UK. She is here on a temporary work permit and going through the process of PR, once she has that she will not be sticking around in the position for long.

Having said all this the good sides are the hours are a lot better, she rarely has to do nights, the atmosphere is more relaxed, she gets paid a lot more than she did in the UK and the lifestyle outside of work is fantastic. So overall it's been a good move but career wise not so much...at the moment at least.

charlottyb

I am an RN and I work in a clinic here in BC. In the UK I worked in a Community Trust Sexual Health Clinic and as a Practice Nurse.
I find it is is behind the UK as far as nursing practice goes, here in Victoria. Although I have not worked for VIHA at the hospitals.
It is due to billing, so as a nurse if I do a smear (sorry this may be too much information for some of you, but hey...you clicked on the subject!) Then we cannot bill for those services from MSP. That is why many community/private clinics are not employing nurses.
However, I work for a great boss and so I am able to use my skills. But she is unusual certainly in Victoria.
I am paid slightly better and although I work hard and we are busy I enjoy my job and the role there.

Psyched

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies, Interesting points and fortunately i'm okay with and open to changes, my former UK trust is only just going part computerised records.

I'm a mental health nurse heading to Kamloops. I'd heard of the seniority thing, just heard about bi-weekly pay.

I always tend to notice the regular new research that stems from within Canada, so surprised at the 'bit behind' comments, not what i'd expected.

Staff shortages seem a persistent problem anywhere within nursing, so was not expecting much of a change on that one. Find out soon i guess!

Got my exam to look forward to next

Panz

Yeah Bi-Weekly pay is very common - in fact I don't know a single person in any profession that isn't paid bi-weekly (though I'm sure there must be some).

I'm sure some some hospitals aren't as behind, I doubt it could be all of them(?). So don't let my comments alone instil any doubt. I only know that (from my lady's experiences) one place alone definitely is, others may not be so bad

FStone

I am the total opposite - a Canadian nurse living and working in the UK! I have been in he UK for 2 years and my husband is now in the process of getting PR in Canada!

I find nursing way behind, sometimes in nightingale era at the hospital I work at! There is no discipline for things such as medication errors and a lot of nurses are practising their skills aseptically! My eyes do pop out of my head at a few things I see/hear!

The nurses are lovely and most are very well trained, but the pay is rubbish compared to Canada and on our ward the patient to nurse ratio is rubbish! I work on a stroke ward which is challenging and VERY busy - there is only 2 nurses for 16 patients, you would have at least 3 nurses in Canada if not 4 (VERY heavy at times). I would like to add I only worked at 2 hospitals in Canada so I know it can vary from hospital to hospital! Also on nights it is only one nurse for 16 patients!

It is very difficult to complete regular turns and regular toileting. Sometimes the patients can sit in their wee and faeces for up to 2-3 hours before someone is able to clean them up, let alone sit down and have a conversation with them - I have done it maybe twice in 2 years. It can be very disheartening at times and I frequently leave work feeling like I haven't done enough for my patients and feeling very unsatisfied.

Also I was very lucky to have extremely good training and professors and mentors at a Canadian university. Some of my friends are doing UK nursing school at the moment and when they ask about my training they say Canadian training is much better - but again, I know this varies school to school and mentor to mentor!

It has been an overall good experience for me, but I am very excited to get back to Canadian nursing!

ohcanada

My experience since being here in May 2008 from London is that psyche nursing is way behind than the UK. I was in AB for 18 months and a few UK and Oz nurses returned home because of the nursing standards and also job security. This seniority thing is just silly as far as Im concerned. Seniors get to pick on everything and the juniors who unfortunatley will be most of us coming from abroad, get to pick last ie holidays. The people can be nice depending but like most places you do get nasty co-workers that watch your every move when you are foreign nurse. I get the feeling that some nurses here feel they are all rounders in nursing coz they are general trained nurses so there is an air of superiority and you will hear a lot of "I have 20 years nursing experience in all areas" but the nursing skills are next to zero especially in psych. However, some individuals are really nice and it will depend on the area you work in. AB had really nice people, lovely i should say but here in Vancouver, I work on a unit with some rather dramatic individuals.

You will enjoy the wonderful air, mountains and summer is really great, generally lifestyle is much better and relaxed. The bi-weekly pay I find is great...Im never broke as I was in UK...

Psyched

Thanks FStone and Ohcanada,

Interesting reading. Good to get some perspective and balance too. Agree with much of FStone experience, though things do differ greatly between trusts, I expect Canada to be much the same. My former trust was very hard on med errors yet were happy to run wards with NO regular staff. Yet bizarrely said they would not recruit regular staff until they cut down on agency. Who on earth puts these people in charge.

Seniority does sound very antiquated, but gotta accept some of the bad along with the good i suppose! As i'm heading for a dedicated psych unit i'm getting some extra confidence from what i read. Hopefully my skillset will be clear and valued.

Nothing to lose by giving it a try