Graduating after studying nursing programs in Toronto is a great achievement and at the same time it paves way for a big load of responsibilities coming your way. You’re a graduate who has studied nursing programs in a fast-paced city like Toronto, you’ve mastered the art of adjusting to a new life but what next?
To move on to the next and most important part of your new life in Toronto, you must make smart professional decisions based upon the type of nursing programs you’ve studied in Toronto.
Type of Nursing Programs in Toronto
There can be varieties of nursing programs but a majority of international students choose the popular options as follows:
1. Undergraduate Nursing Programs
These entry-level programs offer great mobility. In such programs, students can advance their basic knowledge about nursing by learning more about the theoretical and practical nursing skills. After completing undergraduate nursing programs in Toronto, one can consider the idea of further studying a suitable specialization program to discover opportunities in a particular niche.
2. Graduate Nursing Programs
One of the common options include studying graduate nursing programs in Toronto. This is a step ahead of the intermediate level of education and helps you inch closer to finding suitable employment opportunities. Usually the program modules for good graduate nursing programs help you prepare for the NCLEX-RN and RPN examinations.
3. Specialized Nursing Programs
These programs enable students to advance their skills in nursing disciplines of their choice. It’s a lot more beneficial to study specialized nursing programs since they are time-saving and bring a sense of clarity as to where you can see yourself in future.
Work Places Other Than Hospitals
Nurses more than often are assumed to be working only at hospitals. However, the modern day profession of nursing has opened a gateway of opportunities in diverse settings.
After studying nursing programs in Toronto, you can picture yourself working at various places and hospitals can be one of those but not the only ones. Nursing skills are highly valued and your career choices can make a difference to so many lives out there. Completing nursing programs in Toronto can help you explore career choices that are unconventional but definitely worth it. Here, we have listed few workplace options that fresh-faced nursing graduates in Toronto should consider.
7 Unique Work Options for Nurses in Toronto
1. Nurse Educator
Becoming a nurse educator can be a great way of utilizing your skills and knowledge to train future nurses. Colleges, universities and nursing schools in Toronto need nurses who can use their clinical knowledge to advice and educate students pursuing nursing degrees. Becoming a nurse educator can also be the right option if you have studied a specialized nursing programs in Toronto. You can mentor students in that particular specialization, using your expertise and knowledge.
2. Home Health Nurse
Being a home health nurse means to take care of the patients in their home environment. The responsibilities are quite similar to that of a hospital nurse but the work environment varies. You’ll be checking in on patients and customizing their treatment plans as per the needs. This job demands you to be a patient educator, nurse and a companion to your patients, as they might feel home bound or isolated.
3. Aesthetic Nurse
While studying nursing programs in Toronto you might realize that opportunities associated with the profession of nursing are diverse in nature. Becoming an aesthetic nurse means performing nonsurgical cosmetic procedures working in dermatology centers or medical spas. Your tasks may include giving botox injections, performing laser hair removal treatments and cellulite sculpting treatments. Chances are that you might need to undergo a special cosmetic training before working which is justified if you want your daily nursing job to be different from usual.
4. Hospice Nurse
Terminally ill patients require the services of hospice nurses. It means to treat patients by going to their home or in hospice clinics. Hospice nurses assist in the care and comfort of patients who are no longer receiving curative treatments but require pain management to ease out their journey towards the final days. To become a hospice nurse, you must keep a strong will as you deal with patient losses while being aware about it.
5. Flight Nurse
Providing care in the air can be an interesting job if you like airplanes and helicopters. Becoming a flight nurse is a good career choice as you get to treat patients with critical emergency care needs. You might also accompany sick patients on long flights, transport organs for immediate transplant operations. Well, the thought of working in an air ambulance doesn’t hurt if you have a liking towards flying. Choosing this option might come handy after you’ve studied nursing programs in Toronto because the city is more accustomed to such career choices and provides you with suitable means and guidance to go further about it. You may be required to get additional advanced life-support and transport certifications before being hired or shortly after.
6. Public Health Nurse
Public health nurses work in communities and public health clinics, reaching out to the patients in their immediate surroundings. Being a public health nurse requires you to help patients who need care but somehow are unable to receive it. Underserved populations and low-income communities majorly are your patients. Other than providing care, you must educate them about the need for routine medical care and ways to prevent life-consuming viruses.
7. School Nurse
Working as a school nurse holds you responsible for keeping students healthy. Prime responsibilities include assessing illnesses, providing basic medical care, conducting vision and hearing tests to ensure good health. After studying nursing programs in Toronto, you can get a better idea about the opportunities for working as a school nurse since this is a profile more popular in westernized cities and countries.
4 Prime Factors Affecting the Opportunities Coming Your Way
1. Level of Education
Your eligibility for acquiring nursing roles is directly related to your level of education. Higher your qualification, the better employment opportunities you attract and vice-versa.
2. Choice of Specialization
Not every nursing specialty will have an ever-increasing demand for nurses. Hence, it is important to study a specialization that has more patients to cater to, all year long.
3. Population of Patients
Some nurses specialize in a particular segment of the population. For example, pediatric nurses specialize in children’s health, and there are nurses who focus their careers on women’s health, or elder care (geriatrics). So, one must specialize in a segment with a potential of more patients to take care of.
4. Choice of Location
Nursing services have a global demand but if you plan to work in diverse settings apart from hospitals then your choice of location matters. Say, if you want to be a flight nurse, school nurse or a nurse educator, you must pick a city that has a requirement of these specific professionals.
Future of Nursing in Canada
The healthcare needs of Canadians have been increasing, resulting in a higher demand for nursing professionals.
As a result, the country relies on Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) to meet the disparities between the demand and supply. Considering that present scenario is shaping the future, it is very much predictable that nurses of the future will cater to a larger and older Canadian population.
To treat more patients, there must be more Registered Nurses (RNs) with specialized skillsets to ease out the process of patient care. Keeping this in mind, now is the right time for young nursing graduates to advance their skills and be a part of the Canadian healthcare workforce.
Nurses, to build a future, one must act for it in the present. Therefore, here’s your time to consider your options and choose the best one leading you closer to the dream of becoming a Global nurse!
