After discovering that BE and wiki have given me more information about immigration than an actual consultant I would firstly like to say ' thank goodness i found this forum'

Now to pick your brains please

I am a British trained registered nurse , mental health branch. I would love to immigrate to Alberta with my 3 children . I am aware that I have to apply for psychiatric exam and this process will involve me maybe having to do an online bridging course before i am accepted to sit exam... so my questions are

Do I apply for psychiatric nursing registration , get bridging course done (about 6 months) and sit exam then apply for visa OR vice versa.
has anyone else who had to do the bridging course? any other RMNS out there who can advise me of their experience....

thank you

coleen

what visa do you planning to apply for? if TWP then most employers wil not entertain you without having passed appropriate exam or have eligibility to sit said exam. Also process for IEN is a long process

Thanks for your comments. I have had contact with psychiatric nursing association and skyped with john collins , again for very valuable advise... i know i have to pass the exam b4 being considered and understand the process islengthy. I was hoping this post would give me some advise on experience of the bridging program and would be grateful to know which should b applied for first.. credential assessment or visa process.

Thanks

Coleen

up to you but depending on what visa you plan on applying for. I would start with the college as that will be a long process

We had our PR approved before looking into the bridging side of it. My OH is a psych nurse in BC as of this year. He was lucky in that he managed to avoid having to do the bridging programme by proving he had covered the required gaps through his job back in the UK, he just had to sit the exam to get licensed. Word of advice would be challenge as much as possible in terms of what you actually need to do on the bridging programme as it seems that everyone is told they need to do all of it at the full cost.

Hi Coleen, I'm an RMN and RGN and have just got the go ahead to register in Ontario after nearly 2 years. I was advised to apply to be an RPN as I trained so long ago both my nursing qualifications were at certificate level. I have since got a BA in community mental health and a masters in nursing, but because y basic qualifications weren't up to the Canadian standard I decided to go for the RPN exam and then see how it went. In Ontario I can work in either mental health or general, depending on where I can find a job.

Don't know if that helps, but be warned the registration process is long and tedious!

Deb

Thank you

I have degree with honors in mental health nursing and almost finished a grad certificate in psychosocial interventions. I want to practice as an rpn... my programme had limited general and paeds... i believe this is a must in order to sit exam.. where did you retrain ??? Soooo confusing. Also did cic and nursing reg assess your credentials and were did u start visa or nursing reg


Thanks
Coleen

Thank you this is very helpful.

Coleen

Also if you wanted to ask anything else related to the bridging or exam etc please PM and will be happy to pass to OH.

Hi Coleen
My course had limited paeds and maternity, but at least Id done my general as well as mental health, so I sat the RPN exam with no retraining and I didn't have to do any competency exams.

thank you, i breathe a little more easy when i hear this sort of info. I have emailed the nursing college to see if when they take into consideration the practice placements as during my elective I did a 6 week placement in CAMHS and also did 2 x older peoples wards at different stages of training, i am hoping that this could be sufficient for general and paeds (stranger things happen)..

did you apply for both credential assessment and visa together? Do you practice as a psych nurse ?

thanks

coleen

Coleen - no I applied just to the Ontario Nurses College and then got a temp work permit with y husband's student visa. I am hoping to work in mental health here, but I could do either as I have the experience, and I guess with the RPN I can apply for any RPN jobs.

don't forget that there are restrictions on a TWP and that a medical is required before you can work in the healthcare setting. At least now you can get medical done first before applying for TWP