Registered nurse Jane Abas tends to a COVID-19 variant patient who is intubated and on a ventilator in the intensive care unit at the Humber River Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of health-care workers has significantly declined as burned-out nurses seek new professions and the demand for staff in hospitals across Canada have increased.
While some are second-guessing their career choices, others are thinking of pursing a profession that is in high demand year-round across the country.
But what does it take to become a nurse in Canada? Here’s what one expert says you should know.
RELATED STORIES
- What doctors say needs to change about health care in Canada
- A senior who gave up waiting in an ER after 7 hours died an hour after she left. Her story is not uncommon in Canada
- B.C. first province to sign individual health deal with feds, worth $1.2 billion
- Why some worry about the rise of private agency health-care staffing firms in Canada
- ‘An embarrassment to the health-care system’: Nurses reveal issues they see on the job
- ‘The most toxic place’: Foreign-trained doctors file human rights complaint, alleging discrimination
RELATED LINKS
PURSUING AN EDUCATION
The industry has nearly 35,000 vacant job openings as of the first quarter of 2023,(opens in a new tab) according to Statistics Canada and if you’re looking to work in nursing you should consider first what type of nurse you want to be.
In Canada, the two dominant types of nurses are registered nurses (RNs) and registered practical nurses (RPNs). In order to become an RPN, you would need to complete a college diploma program two years after post-secondary, or a four-year university program for an RN. Both pathways require a licensing exam, said Jake Mossop, a registered nurse in Ontario, in an interview with CTV’s Your Morning earlier this week.
“This gets you licensed as a nurse, and then you have to register to your regulatory body in your province because nursing is a regulated health profession,” said Mossop.
After completing the academic requirements for nursing, Mossop said, you can choose to pursue your master’s or doctorate or explore some of the many non-traditional career paths that come with the flexibility of a nursing degree and that aren’t just front-line roles in hospitals or academia.
Other nursing roles can include home care nursing, cosmetic, forensic and even working with a mobile crisis intervention team, which is a group of nurses who go with specially-trained police officers out into the community to respond to 911 calls involving those who are experiencing mental health crises.“It’s literally endless, there’s so many options,” said Mossop
