Pat and Andee are exactly the type of family that the British Columbia government aims to attract to the province.
He is an authorized nurse with years of experience in hospital, she is an accountant. The couple of South Carolina is increasingly nervous about the political climate in the United States and considering a move in the north of British Columbia with the hope of building a better life for their families.
Global News agreed not to use their family names, because the couple fears remuneration and reactions on social networks in their community.
Pat likes kayak and outdoor, and Andee hates the city. The duo was potentially thought to install roots on the terrace.
But they say that the administrative formalities and fears concerning the cost of living take them a break.
“These are a number of different websites, a number of different organizations, trying to keep them all rights just to make and transferred basic things to nursing,” said Patrick.
“I am in a way when honestly, I need someone to help me navigate where to go, with some of the requirements asking that I provide everywhere where I worked before, but also for the number of hours I worked in all places … I worked in 14 hospitals.”
Patrick said he did not know how many documents on his education to include, with instructions apparently asking him to include all his training for integration into these hospitals, as well as hundreds of continuing education modules.
“And then in the end, they said that I had to keep the request short,” he said.
“I’m a bit confused.”
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The couple is also concerned about whether he could even afford to live in British Columbia
“This is a huge concern. It is a salary reduction with a drastic increase in accommodation wages,” said Andrea.
“In the US dollar level, our mortgage … is $ 1,000 a month right now for three bedrooms, two bathrooms, rear.
She said that the estimates given to her for the cost of housing in British Columbia – even in the North – are disturbing.
This occurs while British Columbia sets up an aggressive recruitment campaign for health workers in the south of the border, in the hope of attracting professionals of the same accredited to address the shortage of doctor and nurse in the province.
“I am delighted to hear a South Carolina nurse who is interested not only in moving to British Columbia, but to move on the terrace, it is simply fantastic because the communities of the North, rural communities really experience a shortage,” said the Minister of Health, Josie Osborne.
“We speed up the process for nurses as well as for doctors who come from states.”
Earlier this month, the province announced that work was underway to rationalize the process of transferring skills securities for the two professions.
The plan is to ensure that certified doctors trained by the United States and American are fully authorized in British Columbia without requiring additional assessment, exam or training.
A similar change will soon allow nurses trained by the United States to directly request registration from the BC College of Nurses and Midwives, without the need for another third party assessment.
“Currently, there is a two-track process that anyone who has been trained in the United States should follow … but we are working with the Columbia-British Columbia College to eliminate one of these tracks,” said Osborne.
Osborne said the province hopes that this process is ready to go “soon”.
She added that the college of nurses can access a national database that the American health system uses to follow the licenses, discipline and references of American nurses, potentially soothing PAT concerns about the amount of information to be included.
As for the cost of living, it has recognized that British Columbia is a more expensive place to live, but northern British Columbia would be cheaper. Syndicated nurses are among the most paid in Canada, she said, and also have an advantageous package and guaranteed nursing / patient ratios.
The couple would also have access to the British Columbia Public Health System, she added.
“There may be financial support available directly through health authority,” said Osborne.
“So, if a nurse from states is interested in working in the north here in British Columbia for example, I strongly encourage them to contact the Northern Health Authority and to speak to their very informative recruiters on the types of support that the health authority could provide.”
Any food for reflection for Pat and Andee, who say that their desire to move outside the United States is strengthening.
“If it is possible to start building a decent life, I think we are strongly engaged, and he feels to his point as a part of the deciphering that begins the process to see what it will look like,” said Pat.
“As long as everything continues to move forward, I don’t see why we would not move somewhere, probably in Canada.”
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