CARE Centre has a new way to welcome new members into the organization, and to make sure that they have the chance to get to know one another in their cohort group. After IENs come to an information session to make sure they meet all the criteria for membership, and have an intake meeting with a case manager, the next step is for them to gather at a New Members Orientation Session which gives them more practical information about CARE Centre’s programs and services, which is followed by a professional development workshop that is open to all members.
“The professional development workshops have been very popular, since we offer both hard and soft skill set training, such as some clinical topics and others focussing on the holistic aspects of nursing,” says Ruth Wojtiuk, CARE Centre’s Professional Practice Lead. “We have staff-facilitated sessions that address the more personal side of being a nurse, such as self-care and self-promotion, since we know that by nature some nurses are always caring for others and putting others first. These are also important pieces in building our IENs’ professional identities and Canadian careers.”
Members can find listings for upcoming events on the Members Only Website. Are you a CARE Centre Member and don’t have your login? Contact Michael Frank at mfrank@care4nurses.org and get connected!
Course Options for Fall: Review, Search, Observe!
CARE Centre has announced a busy slate of course and program offerings over the fall, including specialized language and communication workshops, Exam Preparation and Review, Observational Job Shadowing placements, Job Search Strategies, Competency Assessment Supplement workshop and the ever-popular and important Wound Care and CPR workshops. CARE Centre offers an Enhanced Communication Skills (ECS) workshop to prepare for the IENCAP (Competency Assessment Program)/OSCE. It is important to know what questions to ask; however, it is equally important to ask those questions in a clear and culturally appropriate manner. Members who have completed the OSCE all report the importance of good communication. Some of CARE Centre’s educational and career support options are now available to non-members, including the ECS workshop.
IENs volunteer meeting
Volunteer to Plan a Conference for IENs, By IENs!
CARE Centre members have joined together to form three working committees to plan a Conference, for, by and with IENs. The conference will be an opportunity for IENs to share their experiences, create new mentoring relationships, meet with employers and provide important meeting content to inform the nursing industry about their concerns and contributions. The three planning committees are Programming, Marketing and Mobilization and Fundraising. We’ve had an amazing response from a number of our member IENs but we need more help – non-member IENs in your circles are welcome to take part as well. Interested IENs should contact Elva Massey (emassey@care4nurses.org) if you’d like more information about joining a committee Members should look in the Forums section of the Members Only Website for information and updates as the planning continues!
IEN Registration Support and Appeals
At the end of July and beginning of August, the Office of the Fairness Commissioner held two evening sessions inviting IENs to share their experiences attempting to register with the College of Nurses of Ontario, requesting input on what could make the process fairer to applicants. The OFC is an arms-length government agency founded to assess the registration practices of certain regulated professions and trades to make sure they are transparent, objective, impartial and fair for anyone applying to practice his or her profession in Ontario. The office requires the bodies that regulate the professions and trades to review their own registration processes, submit reports about them and implement the commissioner’s recommendations for improvement. The Office of the Fairness Commissioner does not have a mandate to help internationally trained and educated individuals get their professional licenses, and it does not assess credentials. You can read the OFC’s 2012 report on CNO registration here: www.fairnesscommissioner.ca/index_en.php?page=professions/college_of_nurses_of_ontario.
participants
IENs should also visit the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board website for more information about nursing regulation: www.hparb.on.ca/scripts/english/about.asp. The Board is the adjudicative arm of the Health Boards Secretariat, a branch of the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care.
In related news, this past summer the Ontario Human Rights Commission released a new Policy on Removing the “Canadian Experience” Barrier. The new policy prohibits employers and regulatory bodies from requiring “Canadian experience” unless they can prove grounds for its relevance. Read more about the new policy and other human rights (multiple languages available) at www.ohrc.on.ca.