Nursing Qualifications
May 8th 2003, 6:54 pm
#1
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 3
Nursing Qualifications
We're giving early consideration to emmigrating to Canada and the first real question relates to employment.
My wife is a nurse and it would have to be on her qualification that we apply. I've heard that UK trained nurses have to 're-qualify' (or at least sit an exam) in the province they want to work in. Is this true ?
Does anyone know for sure or can point me in a direction to find out more.
Any help appreciated.
many thanks
Stuart
My wife is a nurse and it would have to be on her qualification that we apply. I've heard that UK trained nurses have to 're-qualify' (or at least sit an exam) in the province they want to work in. Is this true ?
Does anyone know for sure or can point me in a direction to find out more.
Any help appreciated.
many thanks
Stuart
May 10th 2003, 4:50 pm
#2
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: Ajax, Ontario
Posts: 149
I have just gone through the same process for Ontario.
She needs to contact the nursing organisation for the province that you would like to go to. In Ontario it is the College of Nurses of Ontario - they all have websites which usually go through the process of applying from abroad.
The College then sends you a package with various forms to be filled in. She would need a transcript of her nurse training, this is usually sent directly from the hospital/university so even if she has a copy she would need to get another one. They then check that she has done enough hours in each area, both theory and practice. Some younger nurses (I am fairly old!) are having problems with the hours as they don't always have enough practical hours. She also has to have a reference from her current employer. She also has to have her registration verified by the NMC - their website has the details and it is £36!
All the above are assessed and they will decide whether she is eligible to write the exam. The exam is taken 4 times a year and is multiple choice - it is pretty easy (hopefully!) compared to the British exams. If she needs further hours in any area they will tell her what is needed.
She could either then fly over and take the exam, or she could get a job where they will give her temporary registration for up to a year until she passes.
It all sounds pretty straightforward BUT even though they are supposedly short of nurses it is very hard to get a job. It is virtually impossible to get an offer of a "permanent" job as the hospitals don't want to make the commitment. It is taking such a long time for residency to come through at the moment that the hospitals are not prepared to wait for 2 years before you are actually going to get there. They are also only recruiting for certain areas - in Toronto these were ICU, oncology, theatres, A&E, obstetrics and psychiatry - though this may have changed, but they were unable to get HRDC approval for any other areas when we were there last year.
It is quite easy to get a job in the above areas on a work permit, and after a lot of frustration this is the route that we are having to take. Hopefully if we like the lifestyle I can get an extension of the permit and then we can apply for PR. I guess the hospital want to make sure you are not the nurse from hell before they give you the relevant letters for PR!
As a spouse you would get an open work permit. The big obstacle we have had is over the health insurance - but they have now agreed to give me a letter saying they "intend" to employ me for 3 years, but this is for insurance purposes only and is not binding to the rest of my contract.
I got my job offer when we were on holiday last year (August), I also contacted some other hospitals but most of them don't even bother to reply to foreign workers. We naively thought it would be fairly straightforward but it has been very frustrating and we are only seeing the light at the end of the tunnel this week. We could have been there by now if we hadn't tried to go for PR first, we got all the stuff but the hospital just would not budge on their refusal to employ me permanently - without it you are unlikely to achieve the points.
Some of the nursing agencies are recruiting for Canada, it really depends on where you want to be and what your specialty is. Also she may have to drop her level - I am a sister but will be going back to being a staff nurse - but I'm not bothered and they will be paying me more than I get over here anyway!
Good luck and if you have any further questions just ask.
Gail
She needs to contact the nursing organisation for the province that you would like to go to. In Ontario it is the College of Nurses of Ontario - they all have websites which usually go through the process of applying from abroad.
The College then sends you a package with various forms to be filled in. She would need a transcript of her nurse training, this is usually sent directly from the hospital/university so even if she has a copy she would need to get another one. They then check that she has done enough hours in each area, both theory and practice. Some younger nurses (I am fairly old!) are having problems with the hours as they don't always have enough practical hours. She also has to have a reference from her current employer. She also has to have her registration verified by the NMC - their website has the details and it is £36!
All the above are assessed and they will decide whether she is eligible to write the exam. The exam is taken 4 times a year and is multiple choice - it is pretty easy (hopefully!) compared to the British exams. If she needs further hours in any area they will tell her what is needed.
She could either then fly over and take the exam, or she could get a job where they will give her temporary registration for up to a year until she passes.
It all sounds pretty straightforward BUT even though they are supposedly short of nurses it is very hard to get a job. It is virtually impossible to get an offer of a "permanent" job as the hospitals don't want to make the commitment. It is taking such a long time for residency to come through at the moment that the hospitals are not prepared to wait for 2 years before you are actually going to get there. They are also only recruiting for certain areas - in Toronto these were ICU, oncology, theatres, A&E, obstetrics and psychiatry - though this may have changed, but they were unable to get HRDC approval for any other areas when we were there last year.
It is quite easy to get a job in the above areas on a work permit, and after a lot of frustration this is the route that we are having to take. Hopefully if we like the lifestyle I can get an extension of the permit and then we can apply for PR. I guess the hospital want to make sure you are not the nurse from hell before they give you the relevant letters for PR!
As a spouse you would get an open work permit. The big obstacle we have had is over the health insurance - but they have now agreed to give me a letter saying they "intend" to employ me for 3 years, but this is for insurance purposes only and is not binding to the rest of my contract.
I got my job offer when we were on holiday last year (August), I also contacted some other hospitals but most of them don't even bother to reply to foreign workers. We naively thought it would be fairly straightforward but it has been very frustrating and we are only seeing the light at the end of the tunnel this week. We could have been there by now if we hadn't tried to go for PR first, we got all the stuff but the hospital just would not budge on their refusal to employ me permanently - without it you are unlikely to achieve the points.
Some of the nursing agencies are recruiting for Canada, it really depends on where you want to be and what your specialty is. Also she may have to drop her level - I am a sister but will be going back to being a staff nurse - but I'm not bothered and they will be paying me more than I get over here anyway!
Good luck and if you have any further questions just ask.
Gail
May 15th 2003, 11:48 pm
#3
Cynically amused.
Joined: Oct 2002
Location: BC
Posts: 3,648
Excellent advice to which I will not add anything as I am not a nurse. As a side note, after nearly 18 mths trying my good friends left early this year and went back to the UK as they could not get jobs here - despite 12 years midwifery experience as an RN in a busy London hospital. My friend was told her training was inferior and was looking at possibly three more years of school here. It is a common story in BC - Ontario may be a better bet for you or the prairies.
Jun 11th 2003, 12:59 pm
#4
Just Joined
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: Kent
Posts: 2
I would be interested in knowing the practice/theory hours required by the nursing board in Ontario. I've been considering the US where the minimum requirement is 80 hours practice and 40 hours theory in each of the five areas. Unfortunately my paediatrics practical is just under half the requirement being an early Project 2000 student (I believe it's different now!). Why they expect an Adult nurse to have at least 80 hours practice in Paediatrics is beyond me, but I'll have to make up the hours at my own expense (in terms of time and not being paid for it) if I want to pursue a career in North America. 
Jun 12th 2003, 2:54 am
#5
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,015
That's interesting - I have nothing useful to comment except that I had forgotten that "pediatrics" was spelled "paediatrics" in England.
Jun 13th 2003, 10:26 am
#6
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: Ajax, Ontario
Posts: 149
The website for the College of Nurses of Ontario is www.cno.org or you can e-mail them at [email protected]. They will send you an information pack and all the relevant forms.
Your course must have contained at least 750 hours of theory and 1200 hours of practice. It doesn't say how many hours in each area you need to have, they will assess it from your transcript.
It takes ages so you need to start the process asap - they send various forms that need to be filled in by you and your employer. Your transcript of training has to be sent to them directly from where you trained/university - so a copy will not be good enough. It is a pain because I was charged £100 for my transcript of nurse training !! Yet a transcript of my university degree only cost £9. If you are applying to more than one province you will have to get a transcript for each province. The CNO charge $21 for dealing with the application which isn't bad compared to the cost of everything you have to get in Britain where you just get ripped off.
Good luck and just ask if there is anything else you need to know
Gail
Your course must have contained at least 750 hours of theory and 1200 hours of practice. It doesn't say how many hours in each area you need to have, they will assess it from your transcript.
It takes ages so you need to start the process asap - they send various forms that need to be filled in by you and your employer. Your transcript of training has to be sent to them directly from where you trained/university - so a copy will not be good enough. It is a pain because I was charged £100 for my transcript of nurse training !! Yet a transcript of my university degree only cost £9. If you are applying to more than one province you will have to get a transcript for each province. The CNO charge $21 for dealing with the application which isn't bad compared to the cost of everything you have to get in Britain where you just get ripped off.
Good luck and just ask if there is anything else you need to know
Gail
Jun 13th 2003, 11:39 am
#7
Just Joined
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: Kent
Posts: 2
Thanks for the information Gail.
I've already contacted CNO, and an application pack should be on its way. The grouping together of training hours looks more hopeful for me as I really don't want to organise additional shifts on paediatric, pyschiatric and maternity wards just to satisfy the nursing boards in the US.
If I want to move into the US at a later date, I could always get a license from one of the boards that doesn't require Canadian RN's to do the NCLEX, and move onto Michigan after getting a US license. That's assuming I don't want to remain in Canada longer term. If I can get work in Southern Ontario, my rellies in Detroit aren't more than 3-4 hours drive away, so it could work out well in more ways than one, especially if there's a job in Windsor, Ontario, which is a quick drive over the Detroit River.
I've already contacted CNO, and an application pack should be on its way. The grouping together of training hours looks more hopeful for me as I really don't want to organise additional shifts on paediatric, pyschiatric and maternity wards just to satisfy the nursing boards in the US.
If I want to move into the US at a later date, I could always get a license from one of the boards that doesn't require Canadian RN's to do the NCLEX, and move onto Michigan after getting a US license. That's assuming I don't want to remain in Canada longer term. If I can get work in Southern Ontario, my rellies in Detroit aren't more than 3-4 hours drive away, so it could work out well in more ways than one, especially if there's a job in Windsor, Ontario, which is a quick drive over the Detroit River.
