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3152 -
REGISTERED NURSES
(Infirmier diplômé / infirmière diplômée)
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Registered nurse with patient. (Photo: M. Farfan) |
With a renewed vision of health care in Canada, job opportunities in the health sector are growing steadily. The nursing profession has seen a major turnaround in recent years, and today the placement rate of graduates in nursing is extremely high. Nursing is a varied and rewarding career choice for men and women, blending human compassion and medical knowledge with sophisticated health technology.
Registered nurses evaluate, diagnose, and treat health problems. They help people adapt to physical changes, aid them in their recovery and rehabilitation from illness, and comfort and preserve the sense of dignity of those who may be nearing death.
Nursing has become a highly specialized field; as a result, nurses typically choose a specific area such as Geriatrics, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Neurology, Surgery, Critical Care, Oncology, Emergency Room and Trauma, Obstetrics, Public Health and Home Health Care.
Registered nurses are often employed in places other than hospitals and doctors’ offices, such as clinics, schools, nursing homes, extended-care facilities. They may also be self-employed.
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Job prospects in nursing are excellent. The demand for nurses is increasing because of our growing and aging population which requires more health services, and because the government is increasing funding for the health care sector. Consequently, the unemployment rate for nurses is below the overall average.
Due to an aging workforce, low response to recruitment outside Canada, and a lack of immigrants able to fill nursing positions, there are more job openings in this field than there are qualified workers to fill them.
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To work as a registered nurse, you must have a college or university registered nursing diploma/degree. Nurses may also need to obtain a provincial license as well as membership in OIIQ (Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec). To become a member, you must have a DEC or Bachelor’s degree in Nursing, successfully complete an exam and possess a sufficient knowledge of French.
Nurses with a degree can practice in any setting. A degree also makes it easier to advance within the profession in Quebec, and elsewhere in and outside of Canada, where a degree is essential. The options for nurses with a DEC(Diplome d’études collegiales), however, are more limited.
To work as a specialized registered nurse, you must have additional academic training or experience. This extra training or experience recognizes a nurse as an expert in his/her field. To be a clinical nurse specialist, clinician, or consultant you usually need a Master's or Doctoral nursing degree. A degree in a psychiatric nursing programme is required for registered psychiatric nurses.
Champlain Regional College has applied for permission to start a Nursing program at the Lennoxville campus and may have it ready by fall 2008. At present, the Cégep de Sherbrooke offers a French-language 3-year DEC in "Soins Infirmiers" (Nursing). Elsewhere in Quebec, Dawson College, Vanier College and John Abbott College in Montreal all offer 3-year Nursing DECs, as does Heritage College in Gatineau. After completing a 3-year DEC in Nursing, you may opt to spent two years in a Quebec university to seamlessly complete a Nursing degree. Nursing degrees are currently offered in French at the Université de Sherbrooke and in English at McGill University.
Some high school courses which are useful for nurses, include:
Biology
Chemistry
Math
English
Not surprisingly, 93% of those employed in the field of nursing are women, but there are many opportunities for men in this area.
The average full-time income for a registered nurse in 2000 was $43,000. The hourly wage in Québec was between $22.00 and $23.99
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Visit http://www.topportunity.ca/improvefrench.aspx for more information on how to improve your French!
Sources:
- Champlain College
- Guide pratique des études collégiales au Québec
- http://www150.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/asp/emploi/emploiAG.asp
- http://www.jobfutures.ca/noc/3152p1.shtml
- http://nursing.mcgill.ca/
- http://www.cegep-heritage.qc.ca/
- http://dept.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/nursing/
- http://www.vaniercollege.qc.ca/academics/nursing.html
- http://www.johnabbott.qc.ca/
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