Extensive orientation and CARE Centre program help smooth transition
Monday June 6, 2011 -- Lisa Bailey
 
Nurses from other countries are putting their skills and knowledge to work at Revera’s McGarrell Place in London, following an extensive orientation program at the home and graduation from the CARE (Creating Access to Regulated Employment) Centre for Internationally Educated Nurses.

Janis Shkilynk, the Revera Inc. home’s director of care, says three registered staff hired recently came from the not-for-profit CARE Centre.

She suggests long-term care administrators learn about the program and recognize that prospective staff affiliated with it have received valuable preparation to work in Ontario’s health-care system.

Partnered with London’s Fanshawe College, the CARE Centre supports internationally-educated nurses in updating their credentials and training to meet Ontario standards for registered nurses (RNs) and registered practical nurses (RPNs).

Graduates have undergone everything from nurse-specific language training to job shadowing to preparation for their College of Nurses of Ontario exam, which they must pass to be licensed to work.

Anita Ataee, who joined McGarrell Place last September as a licensed registered nurse after attending the CARE Centre program, says “they are the right people to go to.”

“They know you can get help, and they make (the regulation process) faster and much easier if you don’t know the language and the people,” says Ataee, who endured a long and sometimes frustrating journey before she could work.

Born in Afghanistan, she studied nursing in Iran but could complete a post-university work requirement to get her licence because of her country of origin.

Immigrating to Canada in 2003, Ataee studied English to improve her communication skills. She was directed to the CARE Centre a few years later and was amongst the London-based program’s first group of graduates.

Shkilnyk and McGarrell Place executive director attended the March 25 graduation ceremony of Ataee and another new registered staff member who trained in the Philippines.

“We wanted to support our staff. I feel really proud of them,” Shkilnyk says.

Ataee earned her Ontario nursing licence in 2010.

When hired at McGarrell Place, she underwent a month-long orientation program. She worked alongside registered staff on day and night shifts.

“Anita came to us as a new graduate and a new nurse in Canada so she had to learn our health-care system and have the clinical skills,”Shkilnyk says. “So she did the care training and then we gave her a lot of orientation, buddied with some of our nurses, and now she is our permanent night nurse.”

Ataee says the orientation was “very helpful because after a month, I was more comfortable to start working on my own.”

“Now I love working there, I love the staff there,” she says.

Shkilnyk says internationally-trained nurses help to meet retention and recruitment challenges, with 10 per cent of Ontario RNs and RPNs receiving training outside of Canada, according to a Canadian immigration laywers website.

They can enrich a home’s culture and foster acceptance, she says, as well as inspire others.

“As a manager, I feel so happy when I see the people that have had struggles in some countries and are able to provide for their family and do well. It’s a great thing,” Shkilnyk says.