Appointment Abroad: Cross stations for nurses trained abroad

Quebec’s desire to hire at least 3,500 nurses trained abroad is not a guarantee of short – term success. It takes these nurses at least two to three years to really get relief from the health system.

At the stage of identifying their diplomas by order of nurses, obtaining a French exam or documentsMay emigrate, The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) faces a number of dangers.

The 28 health organizations, mainly CISSS and CIUSSS, have ordered the recruitment of a total of approximately 3,500 nurses for the Sante Quebec service, which is the service of the MSSS. The ministry is still examining the “possibilities” of such a policy, the public relations officer admitted.

Already, the stage of recognizing the equivalence of a nursing diploma looks like a barrier course. We are told that only 45 to 55% of the files filed with the Order of the Nurse of Quebec (OIIQ) have been completed To stay. Once the file is complete, the order will take two to three months to process. Currently, OIIQ estimates that 40 to 50 files will be processed during this period. The volume of 3,500 is very high: according to the annual report it is equal to the annual number of new license holders.

In the province, more than 7.4% of the nurses currently in practice are already trained outside Quebec.

Viviana Riano, a Colombian-born nurse who arrived in 2015, said that despite a decade of experience, it took almost three years until the day she finally wore the uniform.

All nurses who graduate abroad, with the exception of French women who benefit from the special contract, must follow the Professional Integration Program after the approved Diploma Equality. Most often, this training lasts from 8 to 14 months.

For Ms Riano, it is clear that the arrival of immigrant nurses is “not a short-term solution.” Without forgetting the quality of the skills, she said the order can exhibit “a little more flexibility” and a personal assessment of the courses.

Other stages, other deadlines

We should also add immigration to the professional recognition deadlines: “Generally, a recruited and holder of a temporary temporary work permit can expect to arrive in Quebec in 10 to 12 months,” MSSS writes. To stay.

Johanna Botero of Colombia, instead, decided to keep her permanent residence card directly in her pocket, following 33,000 people on her Facebook page “Enformers Professionals in Canada”.

At the time, it must be said that Quebec prioritized nurses through its skilled labor program. Thus, despite the “best conditions”, it took him two years to really integrate into his profession.

She welcomed the desire to be hired abroad, but lamented that the way to go about it was not the right one: “It is a gateway with too many policies and expensive as the government is currently offering.” The lady suggests creating a pilot program or allowing experienced nurses to begin with a clinical internship directly at the hospital, which is already relevant to a small minority of them.

The French test represents a very real obstacle for most people. As with francophones and non-francophones, persons trained abroad must pass a mandatory examination for professional orders conducted by the Office Quabocois de la Longway Francis (OQLF).

They made up 60% of the candidates who failed the exam last year To stay OQLF. Candidates with a temporary license to practice “have four years to learn French while having the right to practice their profession”, qualifying as a public relations officer from the office.

Uncertainty of temporary work

Among these twelve works by Asterix is ​​another weight that many nurses have endured for many years: temporary immigration status.

This instability has kept Sabrina, who kept her last name from harming her immigration file, for years. Arriving in Canada in 2018 with her husband and two children, this French nurse from the Quebec City area is awaiting a response from the federal government to her application for permanent residency filed in July 2019. “A month later, I received a receipt, but since then it has been completely silent,” she lamented.

“The search for nurses in Europe is great, but it can be complicated,” confirms Mary Ventura, of French descent who has been practicing in Sherbrook since 2015. Her recruitment criticized Santa Quebec for ignoring this tentativeness. Perspective of Immigration: “We were told that our permanent residence would be quick if we wanted to.”

Six years later, she calculated that her family had spent nearly $ 10,000 to renew five work permits and apply for permanent residency. Not to mention all the tedious processes of eating on his schedule – including overtime – with each new work permit having to renew the health insurance cards of four people. “Even when we want to do our work there is a lot of pressure. During the epidemic, our status did not allow us to adopt a family due to travel restrictions. Yet we work and live like everyone else,” she sighed.

Nurses with families do not leave their jobs and come here unless they are promised a certain stability. In fact, [le gouvernement Legault] Uses us.

Ms. Ventura also knows French colleagues who returned to France in 2015 and 2016, worrying about their choice for these reasons. Observation shared by Tibalt Camara from Le Quebec Syst Nows Aussie. “Word of mouth is going on and anti-Caucasus immigration policies are doing nothing to attract more nurses. We are not able to treat them well,” he said.

The current government has limited the number of permanent residents, with more than 50,000 cases said to be “stuck” in the backlog. At this rate, it would take them at least two years to become full residents of Quebec. “The government will only‘ patch ’with more dangerous workers,” Kamara said.

“Nurses who have families, they will not leave their jobs to come here if we do not promise a certain stability,” Sabrina also stressed. For her, the Legalt government relied heavily on temporary immigration. “He’s really using us,” she says.

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