NWT nursing leaders say they are working with other Canadian jurisdictions to make it easier for nurses who trained abroad to work within the territory.
Last year, a Yellowknife resident described the challenging process of applying for an NWT nursing licence in those circumstances – even as the territorial government struggles to recruit and retain nurses.
Sarah, not her real name, told Cabin Radio the only option she had was to temporarily relocate out-of-territory and gain 1,125 practice hours in the south before moving back.
The College and Association of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the regulatory body responsible, said that is the requirement not only for internationally educated nurses (IENs) but any nurse who wants to work in the NWT.
For a foreign nurse like Sarah, already licensed in two other provinces after 4,000 practicum hours gained in another country, that condition felt unnecessary.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
At the time, the territory had no system in place to assess her foreign credentials. That has since changed.
The Joint Territorial Nursing Council or JTNC – tasked with exploring options to help IENs work within the NWT’s health and social services system – has established a working group to better understand the number of international nurses residing in the territory, as well as “the barriers they face to obtaining registration and licensure.”
The NWT’s various health authorities, Aurora College, and nurses’ association CANNN are all part of the council.
“We’re looking at what the demographics are right now currently in the Northwest Territories. Who the internationally educated nurses are in the workforce, where they are, how long have they been here,” NWT health minister and longtime nurse Lesa Semmler told Cabin Radio last week.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Semmler said JTNC will “try to work toward ways we can support them individually on getting them to being able to work at their max scope.”
Megan Wood, CANNN’s chief executive officer, said the body is exploring “many avenues” to license internationally educated nurses, including acceptance of bridging programs and supervised practicum experiences that would be provided by educators or employers.
Wood said CANNN has also partnered with Inspire Global Assessments, a company that helps IENs to complete an assessment and review of their education, then provides a report to CANNN.
Wood said a registration committee will review that report and licensing of an IEN will follow in accordance with the results. She said the body expects to begin that work in April.
While the federal government is launching other initiatives to bring international nurses into the country to help fill labour gaps, Semmler said southern provinces with more resources and staff will find it easier to capitalize on those programs.
She said the territory does not have the same capacity to start accepting IENs that don’t already reside in the NWT, and also needs to be aware of its cultural sensitivities and responsibilities.
“We’ll take them, except we don’t have the capacity to do the screening and do all the things that need to be done prior to them being ready to go to work,” she said.
“We already have a huge Indigenous population that mistrusts our system and that’s historic. If there’s cultural differences and there’s language barriers, then that’s going to put impacts on our system.
“That’s not to say that they’re not qualified. It’s how do we integrate them into our system in the NWT? And doing it in a way we can support them while supporting our system that’s very fragile right now.”
