Uk trained psychiatric nurse- work opportunities in BC

Hi Rich,

I am a RMN from Scotland, just completed my landing in March 2016 & now am permanent resident.

I think you will struggle to get nursing experience in Canada, you cannot work as a nurse without Canadian nursing registration & to do this you have to apply for initial assessment to the nursing association of whichever province you want to go to, they then assess your UK qualification & will tell you if it matches theirs or whether you have to do further training ( I had to do modules, clinical placements at my own expense before I was deemed able to sit CRNE).

To get work experience I think the only way you will be able to do it is to get a job as a care assistant, but you will need a work permit.

I struggled to find any nursing agencies in Canada, I did agency work in the UK for many years & could not find any comparables.

Once you have a work permit you could try Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) think they are the closest you will get to UK agency.

I don't think you will be able to do anything with the Canadian Military as you have to be a Canadian Citizen to join them.

Hope this helps.
M

Hi M.

Thanks for your very useful reply. I may have to reset the path of my pipe dream!

Best of wishes for your life in Canada.

Rich

Hi Rich,
Never give up on the pipe dream, that's what keeps us going !
My pipe dream started on a holiday to Canada in 2007 & I decided there & then I wanted to be there, it just took a long time & quite a bit of money, but nevertheless I achieved it, so never give up.
Have a look at the Registered Nurse Professional Development Centre, Halifax, NS website, it's a great starting point for international nurses, I know you said BC & I'm sure there will be a comparable, but I did everything through Halifax, so that's what I know, the staff there are fab, they will point you in the right direction with lots of things. Being an RMN, and not duel trained with general I had to do the bridging course for International nurses.
Other nurses who did it at the same time as me did the course in 12 months by applying for student visas & living in Canada for that time, however I couldn't afford to leave the UK for 12 months as I had a mortgage, so I would save money, do a module, then fly back.
Honestly don't give up, it's definitely worth the effort & nurses are well paid & respected in Canada.
I don't know how old you are, but have you thought about WOOFERS ? Up to a certain age limit you can volunteer on farms for bed & board, it would give you a taste of life in Canada that might be another option for you.
Keep going & never give up, I've now got a life that I could never ever have in the UK, a lovely 3 bed house on 2acres with a phenomenal view, I had a tiny 2 bed flat in the UK, so please, if you can dream it, you can live it !
M

Hi,

My name is Ade, saw your reply to a post about relocating to Canada. I am an RMN, I have no particular province in mind. Can you please put me in the right direction on what I need to do to qualify to work in Canada as a nurse. please talk me through the process you took. I am an RMN I qualified in 2019

Regards

My name is Ade. I am an RMN qualified in 2019 with a First class
I wish to relocate to Canada and work as a nurse.
I will appreciate the input of anyone who have similar qualification and has done this before
Please talk me through the step by step process I need to follow.
I have no province in mind
I am happy to follow all advice give.

Hi Ade,

As you will see I posted my replies, 4 years ago so I'm sure things will have changed since then ! However, I will share what I can.

When I sat the CRNE in 2014, Canada did not accept RMN as a first qualification, they only accepted general/adult nursing. I had to complete the equivalent of a "bridging course" to be able to sit the CRNE. However, I'm not sure if this is still the same or if it has changed. You have to sit & pass the exam before you can register as a nurse (I studied for a whole year before sitting the exam as it's a little bit pricey & you only get so many attempts to pass, so I wanted to make sure that I passed on first attempt, which I did.

I would say contact the RNPDC (Registered Nurse Professional Development Centre) in Halifax, they are really helpful & will guide you through the process of becoming a Registered Nurse in Nova Scotia, I believe once you have sat the CRNE/NCLEX exam & registered with a Province, then it's easy enough to transfer to other Provinces Registered bodies.

I actually came back to the UK just over a year ago, I found the working conditions, annual leave allowance, high taxes & cost of living not as good as the UK & for me (now turned 50!) the positive of having cheaper housing with land (something I could never afford here in the UK) was not enough to outweigh the bigger positives that the UK can offer.

Nova Scotia is beautiful & the majority of people I met were lovely, however there was a core of people who are very covertly racist, make it very clear you are not welcome & that you are there stealing jobs, however, they are the minority but they can make life very miserable at times, Nova Scotians can also be very passive aggressive, something I was most def not used to ! for me if I returned to Canada to work I would go to one of the bigger more cosmopolitan Provinces.

Overall I do not regret going to Canada & working as. Nurse, however I would say go with your eyes open & be prepared it may not actually be all it's cracked up to be, it cost me a lot of money, time & effort to get registered as a nurse in Canada & for me I looked at it through rose coloured glasses & unfortunately the negatives outweighed the positives, but this is by no way everyone's experience !

I wish you the very best in your journey to Canada 🤗

Thank you so much sir, you could not have explained this better.
I am most grateful for your advise.