Hi people,
I'm British and dual qualified, I have an Adanced diploma in Adult nursing which included theory and practice hours in mental health, learning disabilties, children's and maternity areas. I worked for 18 months in Anaesthetics and then completed a BSc Hons degree in Midwifery, where I now have 10 years continuous, full time experience. My question is, how difficult will it be to work as a perinatal nurse in Canada? I'm not bothered about the rare type of independent midwifery over there, working as an obstetric nurse will do (even though we perform many more skills and responsibilities over here).
I'm just confused about what I need to do. I'm getting the hard sell from an immigration expert who doesn't seem to foresee any problem equivocating my training/experience for over there. But I think otherwise. Will I need to do an exam, in Canada? And if I pass, then I'm ok??
Please help as I'd love to come over!!

I am a perinatal RN in the US, perinatal nursing in the US and Canada are very similar. Once you have your RN, (which will mean taking an an exam, no equivalency) and visa sorted, you will not have any issues being eligible for perinatal nursing positions. I have employed Canadian perinatal nurses previously. The skill sets of Canadian obstetrical/perinatal nurses are high. I think you may be surprised at the level of autonomy you have practicing in Canada. Good luck!

You'll need to do an exam, and you'll also need to get a job offer to get a visa (unless you have another route to a visa, i.e. your husband's job is in demand etc).

Which province are you wanting to go to? I believe some won't accept diploma trained nurses, only degree trained ones, so that's something to research.

Hopefully one of our lovely nurses (Silverdragon springs to mind) will be along to advise shortly.

Best of luck.

Thanks to you both for your replies.
DebzinUS - I'll move to Virginia if you want to give me a job!!
Christmasoompa - I have a degree in midwifery which is the area of nursing (obstetrics) which I wish to remain in. Is this not sufficient?

I'm a bit confused on the cost of the exam too, does anyone know roughly how much it is as an overseas applicant?

You're best off searching for posts by Silverdragon102, she's very helpful and full of nursing info.

Good luck!

These threads may be of use -

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=745797

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=682468

HTH.

Ha! I teach now. I moved into nursing education two years ago. I was an OB RN, and then director for over 20 years. We need experienced OB nurses here...Too bad the visa situation isn't great in the US, you would have a job in a minute. Wish I could help with info on the degree situation and licensing in Canada. I imagine it is similar to the US and each province has their own requirements. As Christmasoompa has said, Silverdragon is an RN working in Canada, and should be able to give you much more info.

Hi there

. Nursing in Canada is general trained so just because you want to stay in a certain area doesn't always mean that the college will accept application.

Cost of application and sitting the CRNE will vary depending on province you apply to. Also as mentioned some provinces require a minimum of BSN but will assess application in most cases individually

Example. Ontario College of RN's costs are
Initial application $231.65
Exam $542.40
Jurisprudence exam $40.00
Application for eval 678.00

There are also a lot of provinces that require some form of assessment before a decision is made to whether you can sit CRNE or whether further courses have to be met

This all comes down to two initial questions before all else:

1) did you do the degree in-class in a UK university, and if so, how old is it?

The post-degree experience in the UK will not help with any Canadian academic requirements here (if they say so, they are lying). No doubt would help get you a job after though.