Nursing Job Canada

There has always been a marked shortage of nurses but this hasn’t stopped job hunting from being trouble-free. The search can be even more frustrating for first-time nurses looking to get employment which is why we’ve detailed a few tips to help new nurses increase the odds of bagging a job.

• Don’t focus on a dream job: Most first-timers have very high expectations of what their first job will be like. It’s important to chuck this notion as there’s nothing like a dream job. Even graduates with very high marks aren’t guaranteed work that pays them six figure salaries. Be flexible enough to widen your options.

• Beef up your resume: Add to your resume by offering to volunteer and completing internships. The more experience you have in nursing, the higher the chances of landing a job. If possible, try to go for further training like master’s and professional degrees.

• A hefty salary isn’t everything: Hefty salaries come with job descriptions that require a lot to handle which first-timers may not be able to bear. Expect a modest salary instead – initially, at least – which is enough to pay your bills. With experience, you’ll soon be able to command a higher salary.

Travel nursing is a very rewarding career especially for people eager to work in different hospital settings. The experience gained is unmatched by many other nursing specialties and the pay package is good as well. If you’re considering a career in this field, then there are a few things you need to know.

• Becoming a travel nurse requires having a degree in nursing from an accredited healthcare professional program. Nurses will also need to have a license and proof of work.

• Minimum experience of 18 months to two years is required by most contractors. However, certain specialties require more experience which can go up to over five years.

• A big benefit of travel nursing is that it exposes you to different hospital settings which means that you gain invaluable experience. This can strengthen your resume if you ever decide to look for a permanent post.

• You’ll need to sign up with a travel nursing company who will assign you to different locales. Do a thorough check on what each offers and make sure that they provide adequate compensation, pay, insurance and benefits.

• Most importantly, be ready and willing to work under different settings and look at travel nursing as a way to hone your skills. Only a few other fields offer such flexibility and learning avenues.

Nursing is part of the healthcare sector that focuses on providing care to patients and their families. While most often associated with working under doctors, nurses can also practice independently based on the level of training they’ve received. The career options are many and some are listed below.

Holistic nursing

Holistic nursing deviates from using conventional medicine to heal ailments and instead employs alternative practices to achieve the same results. The duties of a holistic nurse include practicing and performing acupuncture, aromatherapy treatments, Chinese medicine and chiropractic manipulations.

Public health nursing

Public health nurses are tasked with providing health care to the community. Their duties include educating patients on how to manage their illness, administering medications and conducting health checks on patients in their homes, and working with hospitals and family doctors.

Faith community nursing

Also known as parish nursing, faith community nursing involves the provision of health care to congregations of churches and other faiths.

Legal nurse consulting

Legal nurse consultants assist insurance companies and lawyers with legal cases by organizing and examining medical records, interviewing and communicating with expert witnesses in a legal case and locating evidence, among other duties. Optional legal consulting certification can be obtained after completion of required training.

Travel nurses are medical professionals who work on an assignment basis outside the state for other nurses who are on leave. The specialty first arose to supplement the shortage of nurses commonly experienced around the globe. In fact, it is estimated that there is a shortage of about 4.3 million health professionals in the world, arising out of underinvestment not in the healthcare sector but in working environment, training and wages of medical professionals.

Assignments

Most travel nurses are assigned outside the state but inside the country. On occasion, some are required to travel internationally in which case the assignment lengthens in duration to between a year and two years compared to the usual three-four months.

Salary

Since travel nurses are assigned to different locales and settings, their salary depends on these variables. However, they earn more than registered nurses as the accommodation, travel expenditure and other essentials are provided by the contract company and the travel agency. They can take home around $90,000 and also enjoy benefits like incentive programs, insurance and tuition reimbursement for continuing education. Note that some nurses are independent contractors.

Compensation

For nurses who choose to secure housing that’s independent of the travel agency, they can avail a stipend which is tax-free if the nurse has a qualifying tax home. Else, they will be provided a furnished house which may or may not include utilities.

Alternative medicine is slowly being accepted as a legitimate form of providing healthcare. And, while it still has a long way to go to catch up with conventional medicine and practices, the number of people seeking treatment using alternative medicine is slowly growing. This has fueled a demand for holistic nurses.

Like all nursing specialties, getting a certificate in holistic nursing requires becoming a registered nurse although this may vary from country to country. The course comprises massage therapy, acupuncture, therapeutic touch and spirituality depending on the institute. Upon completion of the course, candidates will need to complete a year’s active practice in holistic nursing.

According to statistics, there continues to be a demand for holistic nurses in view of the number of people turning to alternative medicine for treatment. It isn’t surprising, therefore, that many are opting for a career in this specialty.
Registered nurses (RN) – holistic or otherwise – earn more than licensed vocational nurses (LVN) as the period of nursing study is longer. RNs also supervise LVNs, nursing assistants and orderlies and their jobs comprise more of a planning and patient management role. To increase the chances of getting employment and commanding higher salary, potential candidates are advised to complete their bachelor’s degree in nursing.

Becoming a registered nurse is a rewarding and fulfilling career with a lot of scope. The healthcare sector is always in need of properly qualified individuals in the nursing segment and to get into the practice, it’s necessary to be a registered nurse. This entails completing a degree in nursing and passing a certification exam.
Registered nurses usually go on to specialize in fields of their choice. A few examples are trauma nursing, oncology nursing and transplant nursing but even those who specialize in an area can be signed on to work with different departments in a setting in case there is a shortage of nurses.

Duties

A nurse’s primary role is to assist doctors in providing care to patients. But aside from this, he or she is tasked with many other jobs. They advice patients and their family with post-treatment procedures, perform diagnostic tests, monitor patients’ symptoms, administer treatment and medication and operate medical equipment.
A career in nursing requires a lot of hard work and candidates should be willing to work night shifts and during holidays. Some may need to travel to patients’ homes or clinics depending on what the hospital specifies. All said and done, choosing nursing as a career guarantees that there will always be employment.

Nurses provide a great service to the healthcare sector by helping patients cope with illness and treatment and assisting physicians and surgeons in their practice. It wouldn’t be false to say that the healthcare industry would be nowhere without these valuable but oft times overlooked care givers.
Like doctors, there are different kinds of nurses trained in their own specialties and registered nurses (RN) and licensed vocational nurses (LVN) are a couple.

Registered nurses

Registered nurses are those who have completed their degrees in nursing, whether of a three-year or five-year nursing program duration. Their role is largely relegated to planning, delivery and management of patient care and also supervision of orderlies and LVNs. They earn more too, by as much as 50 percent, according to some statistics.

Licensed vocational nurses

Licensed vocational nurses train for the nursing program for a duration of one and a half to five years. They’re generalists in that their role involves working in any area of healthcare. However, they may also work in specialized settings such as doctor’s offices.

LVNs are the nurses we, as the public, are used to seeing when we need to get treatment for some ailment. They’re the ones who administer IVs and medicines as well as maintain a patient’s records.

We’re well acquainted with doctors and nurses but what do medical assistants do? Are they nurses or are their roles confined to an administrative capacity? These often overlooked professionals play a key role in office management and also perform certain clinical duties similar to that of a licensed vocational nurse.

Medical assistants work in both clerical and clinical capacities. They don’t have such extensive medical training as nurses and may perform clinical duties only under the order of the physician they work for. When they do, the duties normally include performing basic lab work, recording viral signs, changing dressings and recording a patient’s medical history.
Clerical duties, meanwhile, are very similar to that of office assistants. Appointments are made and arranged by medical assistants, patients’ records are filed and updated and bills and other related documents are maintained.

One of the biggest differences between a medical assistant and a nurse is that MAs can only work in the offices of healthcare practitioners. This means that they cannot perform clinical duties outside of their office setting so their role is more limited.
Like all medical-related roles, becoming a medical assistant requires studying clinical subjects. Certification courses provide this along with administrative subjects like accounting, typing and insurance processing.

Oncology nursing is a specialty that deals with providing care to cancer patients. The work involves monitoring a patient’s physical conditions, administering medication and treatment and planning strategies to manage patient symptoms.
Oncology nursing is tough work and nurses not only have to deal with seeing patients suffer but oftentimes witness death and grief. What they do as healthcare providers is critical, though, which is why they’re in much demand.

Education

A four-year bachelor’s degree in nursing is mandatory in order to become a registered nurse. Following this, candidates will need to go on to complete their masters in nursing after which they will have to obtain a certificate in oncology nursing from an accredited institute. 500 hours of clinical practice in oncology (supervised) is also mandatory which can be completed either during the course of obtaining the master’s degree or after. Once this is done, candidates can register as an advanced practice nurse.

Scope

Most cancer patients are above the age of 50-55 years. This means as the baby boomer generation grows older there is a need for young nurses experienced in oncology nursing. So if you ever decide to specialize in this field, know that you will always find employment, particularly in hospital settings.

Nursing may not pay as much as doctoring but it can still command a handsome salary if you choose your specialty carefully. Today, nurse anesthetists are believed to be highest paid in the nursing segment with nurse researchers coming in a close second.

Registered nurse anesthetist: Registered nurse anesthetists assist in administering anesthesia to patients about to go under the knife. They work closely with dentists and anesthesiologists and working in a reputed setting can earn them a little over $100,000 a year.

Nurse research: Nurse researchers conduct research, design studies and analyze data to improve the nursing field. Some work as analysts for private corporations where they will publish studies detailing a practice or a pharmaceutical product.

Psychiatric nursing: Like the name implies, psychiatric nurses work with patients suffering from mental illness and distress. They receive more training than the average nurse as they learn to deal with different behaviors and build working alliances.

Nurse midwifery: Nurse midwives provide care to women in labor, give advice and assist in prenatal care and gynecological exams. Unlike other specialties, nurse midwives work under unpredictable hours whether in a hospital, health department or clinic setting.

Pediatric endocrinology nursing: Pediatric endocrinology nurses deal with health disorders and sexual development issues in young children.