NURSES of Ontario (Toronto)

[rivka]

Hi there, I am new to the forum and recently got my PR , after obtaining the RN license from the board, how are job prospects, I have a degree. Is it easy to land a job with 6 yrs US RN experience.

hello, it has become more difficult lately to obtain full time employment as an rn in ontario/ canada. the hospitals are trimming staffing. however, it will be easier with 6 years US experience because it is similar to canadian nursing and is easier to verify. also language will not be an obstacle

 

[rivka]

additionally, having worked as an rn for a million years ;D (front line, educator, university prof and manager), the posts from RN are accurate. note, many employers (hospital) are not interested in hiring inexperienced nurses for casual or sometimes part time positions. these positions usually require a nurse who is able to work independently as soon as possible and not require extensive training. i have hired a small amount of international nurses in my previous position but it was a "risk" that i chose to undertake, not necessarily something other administrators would do. best advice-do your research, investigate the sites that RN recommended and do not hesitate to contact hospitals and managers directly in your search for a job. and if english is not your first language - work on proficiency. because like it or not - you will be scrutinized more than the english speaking canadian applying for the same position.

 

[Kwatogmd]

Hi!

Just wanna let u know i had querries twice and they replied also twice. But it takes a long time before they reply. I think its 1 month before they did reply to my querries. So just be patient and wait for their reply. Goodluck!

Lizzy

Hi,


I could not contact them through phone, since the published enquiry number seems to be eating money without letting me to talk with anyone over there. so,I have already applied for application package thorugh email and got the package but didnot get any reply for the queries which i asked them??

Anyways i am going to follow the process through mail.

 

[Kwatogmd]

Hi!

Just to verify, did u mean, you just passed the CRNE? If yes, how did you get to canada? What visa did you use? Thanks.


Lizzy

Hi there, I am new to the forum and recently got my PR , after obtaining the RN license from the board, how are job prospects, I have a degree. Is it easy to land a job with 6 yrs US RN experience.

 

[Kwatogmd]

Hey RN,

Thanks so much for this info. This is very helpful or those who are just starting to be a RN in ontario. I really apprecuare ur detailed info. God bless

Lizzy

Hello,

I currently work in Toronto.

There are lots of jobs after you get registered as an RN in Toronto but its hard sometimes difficult (most especially for internationally educated nurses) to get a full time job when they first start working. What I mean is that you will be able to work full time hours by working in several hospital through a nursing agency. But it may be hard for you to get a full time job at one hospital at first. Almost all nursing agencies will pay you much better than the hospital but of course, this is in lieu of benefits. This means, while a nurse at most hospitals in the first year gets paid $29/hour. It is not uncommon for nursing agencies to pay $35/per hour or more. However, you are not guaranteed hours and there are no added benefits.

You can search for jobs on www.jobbank.gc.ca
www.workopolis.ca
www.rnao.org Go to the job site link
The other thing is to go to each hospitals website to search on their career page. The link to all toronto area hospitals can be found here.
Most of this hospitals advertise their jobs on workopolis (but not all)

As I said, it may be difficult to get a job directly with this hospitals as nurses who have worked part time for them are given higher consideration, followed by nurses who have worked w with them through an agency, then individuals with comparable canadian experience in that particular field. It may be much easier starting with agency pending the time you get a full time job.

There are several agencies for nurses in Toronto and you can google them. Here are some that comes to my head
Bayshore, its actually not an agency, its a home care provider so they hire full time
VON, also a homecare provider, also hire full time
St. Elizabeth also a home care provider, also hire full time

Other agency
NHI, Spectrum Health, ParaMed, We Care, srt med staff, canadian foriegn nurses corp, tlc, carecor, and the list goes on.


There are many rural areas in Ontario that are in great need of nurses. With severe nursing shortage. Normally its only a limited amount of nurses working together and it is not uncommon for a nurse or two to work alone in a region with support through communication technology tools. Also indviduals who work in this regions recieve added benefits.

Hope this helps.

Thank you,

 

[niwrrehs]

+1 for you RN

 

[RN]

Heeyyyyy Niwrrehs, Thanks for the rating. Good one.

Kwaogmd, you are welcome

Rivka, I totally agree with you. Your experience will be treated almost identical to Canadian experience if you have work experience in the US. Also, I agree that employment is not as easy now adays. The labour market is worst than it was 7 years ago. Also, the other thing affecting this, is that the government introduced a program for new graduate in Ontario. There are incentives for hospitals to hire them as the government pays some of their salaries. Although some new graduates still find trouble getting employment even with this, the situation is far worst than for internationally educated nurses.

I am currently doing my doctorate on workforce integration of internationally educated nurses in Ontario, thats why I know some of this stuff. Being not totally proficient in written and spoken English does not help. I suggest anyone considering coming to Canada brushes up on their English skills. Also, there is a course offered by Healthforce Ontario. Its a pre-arrival course for internationally educated health professionals. This may help to get introduced to the health care system. My husband just immigrated to Canada in November. He was a doctor. He took the course and I found the content of the course, good as an introduction to practice in Ontario health centre. The course cost 200 dollars and its offered entirely online. You dont have to be planning to work in Ontario to take the course. I just saw on the website that their is a course starting in March http://www.iehpcanada.utoronto.ca/ For the individual that has practiced in the US, I dont think this course will be necessary. But for others I suggest you take it.


Yes, hospitals dont want to hire due to the risk. Often times its agency that hires internationally educated nurses to work in thehospital. However, the problem is that agency do not give good orientation. If you get a job full time in a hospital, the orientation is probably between 2 weeks and 3 months, depending on the hospital. If you get a job with a agency, you may get none. With the agency I worked with in the past, I got 1 day orientation and it wasnt even paid. Many IEN, after working through an agency will get known by the hospital or nursing home and get hired as they demonstrate their competence.

I noticed I did not put the link for hospitals in Ontario. Here it is http://www.oha.com/AboutUs/HospitalLocator/Pages/Maps.aspx?Region=Main
Click on the map for the region you want to work. If you want toronto area, cgo here http://www.oha.com/AboutUs/HospitalLocator/Pages/Maps.aspx?Region=Region3

You can go to the individual websites to search for jobs. Note that rarely will hire you if you are not already registered as a nurse in Ontario

Hope this helps.

 

[Sarass01]

Hi RN,
Thank you very much for your kind reply.Its most valuable.

Regards
Sarass

 

[RN]

Hello,

As I continue to work on my research. I found that one of my postings was not up to date. The pass rate for internationally educated nurses has now increased to 70% for those who wrote the exam in 2009. See here http://www.cna-nurses.ca/CNA/documents/pdf/publications/CRNE_Bulletin_April_2010_e.pdf

I still strongly suggest that before you write the exam, you get the CRNE exam study book that have questions and you may want to take exam review courses. Do not take the US exam review course as the exam are very very different.

Sarass, you are welcome.

Thank you,

 

[bebe05]

@ RN,

If I will be challenging CNO to assess me under RN & will be paying for $678 , & what if I will not be eligible , do I still need to pay for the RPN assessment fee of $276 ?
Do you have any idea about this?
Thanks.... :-*

 

[RN]

Hello,

Unfortunately, I have absolutely no clue. I think you should contact CNO. Hope you get an answer.

Thank you,

 

[niwrrehs]

@ RN,

If I will be challenging CNO to assess me under RN & will be paying for $678 , & what if I will not be eligible , do I still need to pay for the RPN assessment fee of $276 ?
Do you have any idea about this?
Thanks.... :-*

YES. You have to pay for the RPN assessment. All the CNO fees are non-refundable. And if you qualify for RN exam, you have to pay another 464.69CAD.

NIWRREHS

 

[bebe05]

@ niwrrehs,

wow it's really challenging to apply for registration under RN huh!you'll be challenged by the costs...hehehehe
it's your wife who applied for the registration right?does she have some masteral degree in nursing?

@ RN,
thanks for the reply. ;D

 

[niwrrehs]

bebe05

yeap... Master of arts in Nursing and BS in Biology also, prayin that she will be quAlified to take the exam without having the bridging program/short course i think, a
another is you have to pay the courier (if you are still in the philippines like we've done) 1K plus for your application, another 1k plus for the school credentials in nursing, another 1kplus for the Masteral credentials, and your IELTS is 1k plus also.. You cannot send it as one because the school must do the sending... and you pay for the costs...

SNIWRREHS

 

[martha marita]

@ RN,

If I will be challenging CNO to assess me under RN & will be paying for $678 , & what if I will not be eligible , do I still need to pay for the RPN assessment fee of $276 ?
Do you have any idea about this?
Thanks.... :-*

No you wont have to pay for again, it will automaticlly go on RPN.