John graduated as a registered psychiatric nurse (RPN) and registered general nurse (RN) in Scotland. He became a Clinical Nurse Teacher (RCNT) and a Nurse Teacher (RNT), working with nursing students in Scotland and England. He moved with his family to Toronto, Canada in 1988, where he worked as a Registered Nurse in the psychiatric unit at Toronto East General Hospital. He also delivered education on working with individuals with mental health issues to RCMP and Police officers at Brampton Police Academy and Metro Toronto Police, and was employed as the Assistant Coordinator of Education Services at Queen Street Mental Health Centre (now CAMH).

During this time, John was one of a team of educators who developed curricula and delivered programs for all disciplines and workers at the facility. He also sat on successful symposia/conference organization committees. Additionally, John and his team conducted program evaluation research into the Prevention and Management of Aggressive Behaviour (PMAB) Program. John conducted a further study of this program in Glasgow, Scotland which is published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing (1994). Thereafter, in 1995, John graduated from Simon Fraser University with Master of Arts in Education, and in 2012, he completed his Doctoral studies in Dublin, Ireland, producing a theory of transition for migrant healthcare professionals – “New Normalising”.

In 1992 John and his family made another major move to British Columbia. Here, John worked as a nurse at St. Vincent's Hospital and taught in public and private post-secondary education at Douglas College, Langara College, The Open Learning Agency, John Collins Consultancy and The International School of Nursing and Health Studies (ISNHS). John was owner/operator and President of the latter school, which provided education services and programs to nurses and psychiatric nurses in Canada, Internationally Educated Nurses (IEN), Community Mental Health Workers and Home Support Workers among others. Programs included Exam Preparation for Registered Nursing, Registered Psychiatric Nursing and Licensed Practical Nursing; Registered Nurse Qualifying Courses (Maternal Newborn Nursing, Children's Nursing, Psychiatric Nursing and Adult Medical and Surgical Nursing), The RN Refresher Program for Nurses Educated Outside Canada and The Refresher/Update Program For Psychiatric Nursing, and English as a Second Language Courses (TOEFL, TSE, IELTS, CELBAN). The school was sold to Stenberg College in the summer of 2005, where John served as the Dean of Nursing until the end of 2006. John Collins Consulting Inc., opened in August of 2006, offers a number of nursing and education consulting services based on John's 37 years of experience in healthcare.

In recent times, he consulted on a number of national and provincial projects which included the development of competencies for registered psychiatric nurses, the development of an assessment method and tools for IENs – NNAS and NCAS, and consulted to the Canadian Association of Foot Care Nurses (CAFCN) to establish National Competencies for Advanced Foot Care Nurses (2017). Throughout his career John has provided competency assessment services to RNs, RPNs, LPNs and HCAs in several provinces in Canada. In addition, John teaches on the BSN program at Vancouver Community College.