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Healthcare workers want it easier for internationally trained nurses to get work here
As the Omicron variant is increasing stress on nurses and creating staff shortages, front line healthcare workers are asking for the Ford government to make it easier for thousands of internationally trained nurses to get work here.
Doris Grinspun, CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, says help could be on the way, but are being blocked by red tape. She says there are roughly 15,000 foreign-trained nurses awaiting approval to work in Ontario by the College of Nurses.
The College of Nurses of Ontario requires international nurses to be proficient in English or French, and pass two rounds of tests to prove they meet the province’s standards. ICU nurse Birgit Umaigha says she has seen first hand how badly foreign-schooled nurses want to work. But she says for many, the process is too long, too confusing and too expensive.
The province told CHCH that it’s added over 6,700 healthcare workers and staff since the pandemic began and an additional 6,000 workers will be on the job by March. The province also launched an ‘externs’ program in the summer that it says opens the doors to internationally trained nurses and nursing students in their final years of post secondary school to work at select facilities.
Grinspun wants the Ford government to force the college to speed up the process. She adds that the College of Nurses should be processing from a large group of nurses and that they should accept at least 80% of people that apply.
