Coming to Canada to work as a RN or LPN? Already here? Discuss your pathway

[mjcanada]

This is for my own information as I have a deep interest in the progress of IENs coming to Canada. I am not planning to use this information for "personal gain". I have spoken with hundreds of IENs coming to Alberta to credential as LPNs - many having attempted the RN SEC process as well, over the past 10 years. I was employed at a college and I did assess international transcripts. I also developed a language and sociolinguistic enriched PN program in collaboration with the language faculty ,for IENS (2004 funded by the AB government). The program tuition was also funded by the AB government. I no longer work at this college. I have been on national task forces for CELBAN pilot development and most recently (completed Feb 2012) for CASN 's pan Canadian Bridge IEN program development guidelines. I have watched with great interest the developments related to IEN credentialing across Canada, and I believe that more needs to be done offshore to begin the transition while the IEN has family support, and possibly financial support from a job, rather than beginning the process here in Canada.( A process that has been estimated to take conservatively, 2 years or more).I want information from IENS as to what they think they would like to receive in the way of support before they come to Canada. I do consulting with CLPNA and they have received funding from AB government to develop website tools for IENS and also to develop an in house IEN assessment process (currently this paper and prior learning assessment is being done by Bow Valley and Norquest College ) in Alberta, for IENs wishing to credential as LPNs. I am encouraging them to consider offshore prep as well, specifically in the area of Canadian culture, navigating the assessment process, and the norms of Nursing in Canada, a self assessment against the LPN competencies, and socio-linguistic competencies. I would like to hear from the nurses themselves, even though I have heard from many in the past. I am thinking that increasing this offshore content through agencies such as the CIIP might be the way to begin.Having said all of this, I do think that IENS often do not know what they think they need to know, until after they have been though the process, so I am not sure that I would receive particularly valid insight, in this informal forum, but I thought that it would be another stream of input.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Moved from Help desk to our Canadian Nurses forum.

[Fiona59]

I think it's a bit misleading to be encouraging this route of migration. Right now there really isn't a shortage of LPN positions with massive vacancies. There is a shortage of full time jobs for LPNs. AHS seems reluctant to increase position sizes and are having the part timers work extra shifts to cover sick, vacation, and other leave days.

[mjcanada]

Not a question of encouraging this LPN route of migration, rather, providing information to the many IENS who are referred, in Alberta, by CARNA to pursue the LPN route after, and sometimes even before, taking the SEC. There needs to be more realistic information disseminated abroad regarding the various routes to nursing, the time lines and processes around substantial equivalent competency assessments and credentialing in Canada, as well as the prospects of success in assessments such as the SEC in Alberta. Perhaps even better triage by professional regulatory bodies at the paper assessment stage, utilizing the identified gaps in curriculum and practice in various countries to develop educational material.

The research has been done, and assessing IENS to find out what we already know, (and taking more than a year to do so) is redundant. Maybe addressing the identified gaps prior to coming here should be looked at, and streaming the IEN to the correct designation of nursing initially, rather than by the process of elimination. There has been articulation of nursing curricula from various countries to the Canadian RN and LPN professional competencies, maybe more foreign curricula should be mapped to add to the database of information which would inform the assessment process,

[Fiona59]

Shouldn't each nation educate their nurses to fit their own requirements? Nurses are human beings not export commodities.

I mean look at the mess in the Phillipines with the constant "we educate to US criteria". Alberta found out that to it's expense that this just isn't true. I've worked with many of these nurses. Some were great, some mediocre, some downright dangerous (like nurses of all nationalities and educations). But many were very resentful that they were working as LPNs and not RNs. I mean they were making more here as LPNs than they would back home. They saw it as a loss of status. It has also created resentment in the Canadian educated workforce that these nurses can write CRNE and fail three times and then be given three more chances at CPNRE just get them a practice permit of any description.

Perhaps it's time to downgrade all of our RNs who were educated under the old two year hospital and College programmes to PN status? Yea, well that won't fly in this LPNs lifetime.

Try and see it from the Canadian LPNs viewpoint. We work to our full scope of practice. CLPNA has never asked myself or my coworkers if we would like to expand our scope of practice, they just announce the changes. When we ask them to support us in our contract negotiations they scurry away proclaiming "that's union issues!".

We are denigrated by CARNA and UNA and many of our RN co-workers on a regular basis. We get no support from CLPNA and AUPE always seems to riding to support any cause but ours.

The final icing on the cake is the arrival of RNs from other countries who education has been found lacking and get to work as LPNs and can then do some upgrading and get their RN designation.

No wonder there is disconntent in the workforce.

[itsmejuli]

Being an LPN should not be a consolation prize to those who don't qualify to be an RN.