I’ve been a nurse in Puerto Rico, the US, and Quebec, Canada here’s the brutally honest comparison nobody gave me

By <name>/u/FrancoFaux</name><uri>https://old.reddit.com/user/FrancoFaux</uri>

Quick disclaimer before you read this: this is my personal experience only. Let me tell you, my values changed with time while living in different countries and traveling. Not trying to validate or invalidate anyone else’s just sharing since so many people ask me about this. I remember when I wanted to move to Canada, everyone said don’t and in the end it wasn’t bad at all. So take all of this with that in mind. Background: got my BSN in Puerto Rico, worked there, moved to Upstate NY, then Vermont, then Quebec. 11 years total. Here’s the honest breakdown. 🇵🇷 Puerto Rico Good : • Patients and families are very involved (staff shortages mean they pitch in) • Nursing culture is warm on a personal level • Everything is in Spanish • People actually take their lunch breaks • The public system is battered, but it still covers the most vulnerable via “la reforma” Bad : • Ratios are brutal 1:14–20 med-surg, 1:2 ICU (despite Joint Commission accreditation… I knew JC was BS pre-COVID) *• Pay is set by legislated salary, not hourly hospitals lobby hard, not many unions, some unions are weak* *• The Puerto Rico nursing exam felt too easy (scary)* *• Pushy colleagues,I had to argue constantly just to get a patient a stretcher during triage* Benefits: • 15 vacation days / 7 sick days this was before a labor reform cut both, courtesy of the governor (haha) *• Workers comp is employer-paid, with its own dedicated hospital system for injured workers* Bonus for USA Redditors: the VA is considered the best hospital in Puerto Rico everyone fights to get a job there. So landing in the US and hearing people trash-talk the VA was a funny gut-check!!!! 🇺🇸 USA (Upstate New York & Vermont) Licensing note: this part is messy. Whether Puerto Rican nurses are treated as “American” for licensing purposes literally depends on the state PR nursing schools have the same accreditation as US nursing schools, but the rules still vary depending on who you ask. I ended up licensing through Colorado,

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