London Health Science Center set to welcome international nurses – London

The London Health Science Center welcomes the changes allowing international nurses to travel to Forest City, in line with the Ontario College of Nursing’s goal to alleviate staffing shortages in the healthcare sector.

Earlier this week, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones endorsed the College of Nurses of Ontario’s plans to quickly register “internationally trained professionals” as Staffing shortages continue to cause temporary emergency room closures across the province.

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Sarah Smith, head of nursing professional practice at the London Health Science Centre, said that locally “things are still difficult”.

“The burnout is real,” she said. “We continue to live and hear stories of nurses leaving hospital nursing, even leaving the profession.

“We have a lot of staffing shortages at the hospital, and we continue to face big, tough challenges.”

According to The Canadian Press, the plan would allow international nurses to be registered temporarily while they pursue their studies and exams.

Additionally, the plan proposes that approximately 5,300 non-practicing nurses living in Ontario can re-enter the workforce despite current regulations that bar nurses who have not practiced in the last three years, which is necessary to be reinstated.

The changes would also make it easier for retired nurses in the province to recertify, if they are interested.

Jones told the college to draft those rule changes as soon as possible.

The college said the changes could potentially help the nearly 6,000 active international applicants currently living in the province, but Jones asked exactly how many nurses would benefit.

However, Smith said internationally educated nurses often struggled to enroll.

“The province is one of the jurisdictions with the most backlogs in registering internationally educated nurses in Canada,” she said.

“But hopefully some of the changes announced at Queen’s Park this week will really remove some of those barriers and challenges and allow us to speed up the hiring and onboarding of these nurses.

“In fact, we have internationally educated nurses within our own organization working in unregulated roles who are already here with an interest in health care and working on registration,” he said. she declared.

“There are people available, but they face a lot of challenges.”

Jose Villamater, an internationally trained nurse at the London Health Science Center in the Philippines, told Global News about his experience registering in Canada.

“It took them about three years, maybe more, to get my license, even though I was on time to submit all the requirements,” he said. “It’s just a very long process.”

International nurses must meet certain qualifications when moving to Canada, which is not only a long process, but also an expensive one, Villamater said.

“In terms of applying and then reviewing, yes, it adds up,” he said.

“When you move here and you can’t practice nursing because you don’t have a licence, it’s quite difficult and I think that’s one of the obstacles that delays registration.

“I am delighted that the response from the government has been to provide or cover the expenses, such as registration, examination and the whole process, [including] for retired nurses who are ready to return to the workforce,” he said.

London Health Science Center (LHSC), Villamater works as a clinical educator, mentoring new nurses, including those trained overseas. He said the plan approved by the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) is a “very positive change.”

Smith agreed.

“We already have an established partnership with the NOC and so building on that relationship and the processes we have already in place will be a natural step for LHSC,” she said.

About 40 nurses have participated in the organization’s partnership placement program over the past six months, with seven more expected to start next week, Smith said.

“We’re also used to working with temporarily certified nurses,” she said.

“It’s something that’s been a long-standing practice and not just our organization, but all organizations will be really familiar with hiring temp-certified nurses. [as] it’s something we do for new graduates who are already trained in Ontario.

LHSC has vacancies for approximately 442 registered nurse positions and approximately 100 for licensed practical nurses. The hospital currently has nearly 15,000 staff, residents and physicians.

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