Thank you for your email….I have been working In one of the teaching hospital in … Saudi Arabia since 9 years as Charge Nurse in Resuscitation unit in ER (18 beds) with total ER bed 63 beds, Iam member of Canadian accreditation team (focus group) and quality improvement in  my department me and my colleges have been doing many an improvement study In ER. 

                scincerly, A

Dear A,

What fine qualifications! What a notable career! You have done so much in such a short time! There is much to be grateful for. Is your education in Saudi, or did you move there from elsewhere?

I do not with to be the bearer or bad news, but I do wish to inform you about what you may experience in coming to Canada as a nurse. I tell you this, as I have met many people who have come to Canada with great dreams and ideas, built on misinformation. I remember speaking to one highly skilled and experienced nurse who just arrived, only 4 days before I met her. She was filled with excitement and energy. She believed that she could become a nurse upon arriving. I had to tell her the news that it could take her two or more years to go through the licensure process before she could become a registered nurse, and that without registration she could get a survival job at a much lower rate of pay.

The greatest challenge I have seen for people like you who are so accomplished, is the change in status.

It is difficult for one so accomplished to be places in roles where one is not permitted to practice, doing menial jobs, where the rate of pay is much lower than at home. I hope that in informing you of this before you come, that it will be easier to adapt knowing what to expect. Dreams of Canada are wonderful and grand: they do come true. But they take time, work and endurance.

English is often the first great hurdle, that can add years to the licensure process. The scores for the CELBAN have recently been increased in many of the provinces, making it more difficult to achieve. The best council I can give you is to focus on your grammar. It will help to increase your score in reading, writing and speaking. If you would like I have the contact information of a great tutor here in Canada. It will be important for you to look for ways to improve your speaking and listening in English. There are some links on my youtube, and resources in the reading and listening study guides.

This How to Prepare for the CELBAN is a start, but it will take time and effort to increase your score. Writing4IEHPs and CELBANPrep are additional resources that can be accessed from around the world! Check out the IEPC Bookstore on the Cloud to see if there are resources available to you through Amazon.

Whatever you do, ensure you avoid falling into the CELBAN Trap!

Sincerely,

Kim