International Nurse Licensed to Work in Canada - How Long Did it Take?

Hello there International Nurse s,

I wanted to write a quick post to let you all know that after a 2 year journey, I got my nursing license and I am now a Registered Nurse in Canada.

From being an international nurse - a nurse from the U.K. in Canada, I now have my provisional nursing license here in British Columbia, Canada. The dark cloud that was being carried around with me for 2 years is finally lifting.

If you have read my previous posts, you will now that it has felt like a long, arduous journey. But, I made it!

I am sharing my experience here, so you know that no matter how hard to gets as an international nurse, it is most definitely achievable. While I realize my journey has been a lot smoother than most others I've known, I'm hoping me documenting all of this brings you some hope. If I can do it, you can too!

After completing the education BCCNM required me to take as outlined in my previous post; http://internationalnurseincanada.com/the-decision-letter-from-bccnm-revealed/. I then was eligible for a provisional license.

Having my provisional nursing license means that I can practice as an RN whilst waiting to complete my NCLEXRN exam. The NCLEX is a national licensing exam that is used across North America. The good news is, that some countries do require the passing of the NCLEX exam before becoming an RN. So, if you have already passed it, you will not need to do it again. As we don't have a licensing exam like this in the U.K., I will still have to write the exam.

I will be posting soon about completing the transitional education, getting your provisional license and the NCLEX RN exam.

But for now, I'm going to (try to) relax and celebrate this great news :)