A new supervised practical experience partnership at Bluewater Health will help internationally trained nurses gain experience and credentials to work in Ontario.
The partnership, between the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO), Ontario Health and CNO-approved organizations, is also hoped to ensure the Sarnia and Petrolia hospitals continue to maintain the highest standard of patient care.
Vice President of Clinical Support Services and Chief Nursing Executive Shannon Landry said there are many great nurses trained in other parts of the world who, upon immigrating to Canada, can no longer practice in their field.
"We are willing to take in as many (nurses) as we can," Landry said. "We have to be conscious of preceptors. There are some hospitals who have taken 11 of them at this point in time and it will also depend on how many applicants we get and how many we get matched for. So, we may not have a choice as to how many we actually get."
Nurses who meet all requirements of CNO for licensing, but are missing recent evidence of practice or language qualifications will be eligible for recruitment to the paid placements.
"What they're expecting of the nurses is about 140 hours of on the unit practice experience with another nurse from the hospital."
Landry said once the nurse has gained their hours, there will be an evaluation process before Bluewater Health is able to hire the nurses permanently.
