In Peru I was an operating room nurse for six years. In my home country, health care is a privilege not everyone can afford. But I felt that being a nurse was not only a job but also a commitment to community health. I still feel the same way. As soon as I arrived in Toronto, I started looking for a nursing job and found that it was not going to be as straightforward as I thought. I enrolled in full-time English classes and started working a survival job until midnight, then found out I was pregnant. The turning point on my journey was joining CARE Centre (and having my husband bring my daughter to my nursing classes for breastfeeding!). In 2010, I received my registration from the CNO – they told me I was the first Peruvian RPN in Ontario. IENs help address Ontario’s diversity. The province is blessed with people coming from every corner of the world.
