IEN bound to Alberta, Canada- please read

[mercan sux]

Hi. I'm an IEN from Philippines and I would like to share my experience.. Last July 2008, Capital/Covenant Health made a recruitment trip in the Philippines and hired more than 1000 highly qualified nurses and promised that they will deploy us come Dec. 08. We processed all of the requirements like CARNA eligibility, visa processing at CIC-Manila. But unfortunately, AHS was formed and as we all know, according to AHS, "there is no more Nursing shortage in Alberta" and the rest was history. Now, there is no word coming from AHS and it's partner agency here in Philippines( Mercan ). No LMO came and we were advised by CIC Manila that all of our application for Work Permit will be refused..Now we were left with no options but to look for another employer in other provinces. So guys if you have any plan to move and work in alberta, think a thousand time. If you want to waste your resources and time, then go ahead.

[mercan sux]

Mercan really SUCKS!!!!

[mommy848]

second to that..

[5cats]

You need to read your contract with Mercan carefully, especially the small print and go from there.

5cats

[Fiona59]

Well, Capital Health's staff and those employed by other authorities in the regions didn't see what happened to them coming either, if that's any consolation. We're slashed to the bone, every vacancy examined to see if it needs to be filled and then if it's approved to be filled it has to be approved by the slashking Duckitt himself.

But we know of one IEN that used the change in Employer name to his advantage. He left, (before he was terminated) didn't have to pay for breaking his contract, because "Alberta Health Services didn't hire me".

[guitarmanonthego]

Mercan...you better watch out...you're almost running out of luck...You better find a way to solve this problem right away!!!! :banghead:

[mayen]

did this really happen? all the while i thought mercan is a reputable agency that i even planned to apply there. good thing i read all your posts here. can anyone suggest a good agency fro canada? tia!

[Fiona59]

did this really happen? all the while i thought mercan is a reputable agency that i even planned to apply there. good thing i read all your posts here. can anyone suggest a good agency fro canada? tia!

Just search the ancient threads. Really did/is happening.

I work with some of the Mercan nurses. Many did not live up to their references and yes, Capital Health/AHS did and are ending contracts and have had nurses go home because of this.

[Star_Nurse]

A Filipino IEN posted the highest CRNE passing score of 81% in its entire history at Saskatchewan last February 2009, please link below:

http://www.srna.org/communications/releases/2009_crne_exam_rate.php

I've worked with Filipino Nurses here in the US for more than 10 years and they are the most hard working and dedicated workers I've ever met. Give them ample time to adjust and I guarantee you they will be better than you in every aspect.

I have some friends now working in AHS and nobody is being sent home. Don't believe in everything posted in this forum. .

[Fiona59]

So, you're telling me that the nurse who failed CPRNE twice, CPNRE twice, and was terminatd is a myth? That several who were terminated for working under the table is a myth? That the nurse who left to go to the US illegally is a myth?

I work in the hospital where this is happening.

I know of one IEN who is yet to pass the CPNRE and is being told pass it in January or you will be terminated.

Factor in the decision by AHS that there is no shortage of nurses in Alberta and just wait and see what happens. The hiring process is last in, first terminated.

The nurses that came via Mercan came on a TWO year employment contract and the contract is up in May/June 2011. It will be interesting to see what happens.

If Star Nurse spends anytime here reading older threads, they will see that the general opinion is that the quality of nursing graduates from the Phillipines has changed greatly over the last two decades. When even the nurses who came over in the 1990s are complaining about the quality of nurses that the Phillipines is exporting, you know there is a problem.

And yes, I'm using the term exporting, because any nation that produces more nurses than they could ever utilize at home, bases their education on the US system, is producing an export product.

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Finoa59 is speaking to her recent experience with IENs on the unit where she works. This is not a mockery sort of comment, but a statement of what she and others have observed. The IENs recruited to Alberta more than a year ago were not well-screened before being recruited and it's well-established in other threads on this forum that there are schools in the Philippines that have turned out a huge number of poorly-prepared nurses in recent years. That is not to generalize about ALL nurses from the Philippines, but those nurses who received their education from unscrupulous diploma mills. And there have been nurses from the Philippines and from other countries such as India who have not succeeded in Alberta and have been returned home. This is a fact; I know personally the manager of a unit here who has done it.

SRNA's statistics are reassuring but the inference is that since Saskatchewan began international recruitment long after Alberta did, they've been much more careful in their screening process, having learned from Alberta's haste. They did adopt the Alberta-developed SEC very early in their recruitment drive - the assessment program that was created AFTER Alberta discovered the problems with the education of some of the nurses they imported. BC and Nova Scotia were also soon requiring SEC, and Manitoba has its own form of it as well. If this type of assessment was not necessary it would not exist. And let's face it, passing the CRNE does not really reflect the quality of nursing care provided by the person who passed. I've worked with nurses who were born, raised and educated in Canada who are not what I would call proficient or competent nurses, but they've all passed the CRNE. As a litmus test for nursing competence, the CRNE is very weak. My daughter, who has never set foot in a nursing school, could pass it just by reviewing the CNA prep guide... she's intelligent and knows how to succeed at multiple-choice examinations.

I see nothing disrespectful or mocking in Fiona59's posts to this thread.

[5cats]

http://www.srna.org/communications/releases/2009_crne_exam_rate.php

The numbers are for all IEN's =80% passing rate and for all filipino IEN's =81% passing rate what is very good, it's not one nurse who achieved this.

maybe the rate is also that high, because of the preparation offered for IEN's by SIAST, it would be a success for that program.

5cats

[Fiona59]

Yup, 5cats, that's how I read it as well. I've never seen per centile rates posted for either exam. Usually, it's a pass/fail notice mailed to the writers. Never met anyone who knew their score (other than the ones who failed it).